Why Me?
by Melanie-Says
Summary: When it feels like Melanie's world is falling from under her feet, she meets the best therapy in the world, the Ouran High School Host Club! They will do pretty much anything to get her life back on track, but can a group of fun-loving, handsome guys and her new best friend Haruhi really change her life for the better? Will she even find love on the way to recovery?
1. The Start Of My New Life

Why Me?

Chapter One: The Start of My New Life

"This is just a pain in the ass!" I scream. "First the break-up and now this!?" My eyes burn from all the tears, and my throat itches from all the screaming that has occurred in the past few minutes. It feels like the entire world is falling from under my feet and just killing me not so softly.

"I want you to know that this is not just my decision! It is your fathers too! We want what's best for you, and even though we despise each other to no end, it doesn't mean we both don't care for you!" My mother retaliates.

My mind is screaming in confusion, anger, and pain. I have to clear it, get some fresh air.

I run outside and then through the cloudy day down the street to the only place l know is safe for me to reveal my thoughts, but l know it is the worst place for me too. I am going to have to reveal the entire ordeal of what just happened to my best friend, Sarah.

As l run into the door of her house, l knock a lot louder than anything close to polite. I wait, my patience growing thinner and my tears threatening to spill out of my eyes in a matter of seconds. Sarah opens the door and stares at me with her blue eyes getting wider every passing moment, l can almost feel the worry radiating off her.

l jump into her arms and let the tears spill. "Sarah, who is at the door?" Her mom yells from the back of her house.

"It's Melanie, mom!" She shouts back before leading me to her room. She sits with me, the only sound heard is the sound of my depressed moping. As l finally calm down, l start to tell the story from the very beginning to the moment l banged on her door.

* * *

_Flashback..._

"_Melanie, can you come in here a minute, darling?" I hear my mom call. _

_"Coming!" l call back. I race down the stairs in the house me, my mom, dad, two younger twin sisters, and older brother share. I hear her call the names of my two sisters, Stacy and Mia, and brother Liam too, so l know it must be an important announcement. _

_When l come down stairs, mom and dad are at opposite ends of the table, not very unusual since they have been doing that for quite a while now. I sit down and am soon joined by my three other siblings. I am very curious to hear what the announcement is, but the aura my parents are giving off is just so depressing. I know they have been fighting, but can't they get through it, if not for undying love for each other, for their four kids? _

"_We have an announcement to make," starts my dad with a serious tone. "I know this will probably be hard to adapt to, and we have had you kids in our mind the entire time, but your mother and l have decided to get a divorce." _

_The room and time stood still. The shock on our faces must be clear as day because my mom started talking fast to get everything over with. "Along with that, l have decided to move back to Japan, and will be taking Liam and Melanie with me." My jaw was on the floor, while Liam wasn't showing no emotion whatsoever. Did mom just say that we, scratch that, Liam, mom, and l, were going to Japan?_

_The twins were crying, they were only nine, much to young to understand this situation, but they do understand the important part of it. My parents hate each other. Mom, Liam, and I are moving away from them. We may not see each other for months. My world is falling apart, but theirs must already be in shatters. _

_Liam, being the oldest at 18, is taking this how he takes care of everything. Pretend it doesn't hurt him, when in actuality, he is crying on the inside. Please, say something Liam! It doesn't seem like he is going to though, so that is when l speak up. "Wh-h-y-y?" l ask, my voice is unusually shaky, and my calm aura had been replaced by the feelings of sadness, depression, even hell may be an acceptable word in this situation. _

"_It is much too early for you to understand why, just take our word when we say it is for the best. We leave tonight, pack your bags immediately. We're going to Atlanta to stay for a night before we go." My mom directs at Liam and I. _

_"How can l accept that?!" I exclaim, the anger and frustration clearly coming out, my voice getting louder and louder. "l am 15! I think l can understand! You're my parents! Your relationship is ultimately my business, as it effects me in the end!" I scream. _

_"Calm down Mel." Is all l hear Liam say before l let loose the rest of the fury inside me. _

"_This is just a pain in the ass!" I say, "First the break-up and now this!?" My eyes burn from all the tears, and my throat itches from all the screaming that has occurred in the past few minutes. It feels like the entire world is falling from under my feet and just killing me not so softly. _

_"I want you to know that this is not just my decision! It is your fathers too! We want what's best for you, and even though we despise each other to no end, it doesn't mean we both don't care for you!"_

_Flashback over..._

* * *

"And that's around the time that I ran over here" I admit.

After a moment of silence, Sarah speaks up. "So, that's the story, huh?" She asks. I can hear the pain and sadness ringing crystal clear in her voice. The last thing l wanted to do was break the news to one of the most important people in my world. She tried perking up by putting a smile on her face, but it was such a fragile and transparent mask, I knew it was going to break any second. "This is such a great cultural experience! You can eat amazing Japanese food, read the latest manga, meet cute boys! It has been my life long dream to go there, but l could never speak Japanese. I am going to miss you so much..." She starts before she breaks down. We started crying in each others arms and soon we were fast asleep in damp clothes and with snotty shoulders.

* * *

Later...

l woke up in a car. The only light was coming from the GPS in the front. l did not realize where l was, why l am here, or how. Then l remembered the events that passed what only felt a few minutes ago, but must have been many hours instead. I bolted up and recognized Liam's and mom's faces staring at what was a giant Las Vegas style hotel. "Where are we?" l asked. My voice was raspy, and my throat sore, but l repeated the words, this time a little louder. " Where are we?" I wait a moment before I hear an answer.

"Atlanta. We went to Sarah's house to see if you were there, and sure enough you and Sarah were cuddled on her futon with damp shirts. So l had Liam pick you up and bring you to the car." Said my mom.

When she mentioned Sarah my heart dropped. I never said good bye to her, or the twins, or even my dad. I even feel a hole in my heart where my cat used to be. Liam and mom got out of the car and then l slowly followed. Mom got her bags, Liam got his and mine.

I followed him in and he slowed just before mom got to the reception desk to check in. "I am sorry that l can't explain what happened, and more so that you couldn't say good bye to anyone, but mom is heartbroken and l am not in any position to oppose the person who gave me some of the most important things in my life, other than birth." He tells me. I instantly knew he meant me and the twins. He never really cared for dad. I never could find the reason why, but l am not going to be the one that intrudes into his personal life and be the first to see him angry.

The entire rest of the night l spent contemplating about everything. How are the twins? Why, _what_ happened that caused the destruction of my world? Why am I so mad at mom? Liam said she's heartbroken, but I feel she must not have done her part in the marriage, why else would we be stuck in this mess? I fall asleep with still so many tiresome, unanswered questions still floating around in my head.

Why me?

* * *

The Next Day After A 15 Hour Flight

"Hello." Said the lady who accompanied us off the plane. I knew mom was an important person, but l feel like her work requires her to do it a lot more than she shows.

"Hello. Can you please give us a map of Tokyo?" She asks the asisstant. After exchanging a couple more words, the lady leads us to a brochure stand. And after a few more words, we are off in a rented car.

After a couple minutes we are at a small apartment building. Very unexpected from the large house we owned back in America. We walked up the stairs and unlocked the door the second a man walked out of the apartment next to us. He was... dare l say...pretty. He wore three inch heels and a red party dress with and incredibly expensive looking purse. His hair was a more mellow shade of bright maroon and it was let down in soft delicate locks.

"You must be the new neighbors!" He exclaimed. He scanned my moms shocked face, my brothers expressionless one, and my smiling one. For a minute, all my troubles went away. This was going to be amazing! Life will never be boring! We have a freakin' tranny as a neighbor! Can this get any better? Then it did.

"Dad, stop scaring the new neighbors!" said a girly voice floating from the apartment. I soon found the owner of it as a ...person... an inch or two shorter than me, walked out of the apartment. She was obviously a girl, even though she was wearing a boys uniform. Cross-dressing must run in the family.

"Hey, I'm Haruhi, and this is my dad Ranka." She said before giving us a charming smile. I talk first, my mother was still taking in the look of our new transvestite neighbor and the fact he has a _daughter,_ and Liam still had the same expressionless mask on as he always does.

"Hello, l am Melanie Smallwood. This is my brother Liam Smallwood, and my mother Misa Suzuki." I say and then return my version of a friendly smile. The look on my mothers face after l say her new last name, makes me want to cry, I want to know so much what happened to bring our current situation up.

"Well, it was great meeting you, but never once have l been late to class. Please, come over tomorrow for dinner so we can talk more. I plan on making some sushi! Maybe while l am at it, l may as well invite the guys too... never mind that. See you later!" And with the Haruhi runs off to go to school with a slight wave.

Ranka then looks at us and says "I _am_ actually the father of that girl, l just work at a professional gay bar. I need to make that clear. Those host club boys really took my appearance in with a bit of a shock, but you two," He points to me and Liam, "don't seem very surprised at my clothes or hair. Why?"

I look at him and say with a confident smile," I can't, won't, and see absolutely no reason to judge anyone based on how they look on the outside. The inside is what counts anyway, right?" I ask.

He looks at me in astonishment for a second and then says "You and Haruhi must be twins. She told them boys the exact same thing. They are handsome, but a certain host is a real narcissist... " He says with a hint of annoyance making an appearance in his tone. I could see him start to dig his perfectly manicured nails into his palm, l think l may have struck a nerve. He quickly realizes what he's doing, stops, and gives me a smile.

"Oops! Sorry, l almost got carried away! I don't want to scar our new neighbors too much on their first day here. But anyway, you and Haruhi will be best friends, l just know it! I approve of you a lot more than _him... _" He starts.

* * *

_The Morning After The Meeting_

"First day of school!" My mom chants as l exit the car to go to Ouran Academy.

"Bye mom." l say as l go to the front gates. The yellow dress seems very bright against my skin, so l feel like l am standing out. Liam is six foot one so we had to re-order his pants, but they are going to come in this afternoon. His pants just slightly show his white socks. His face has 'I feel stupid' written all over it.

"Damn, rich people..." He whispers under his breath.

"We are rich too!" I snap at him.

"But we don't act like it, do we!" He snaps back. I must admit that he has a point, even when we lived in the house in Georgia we never acted rich, we still had chores, and get our regular allowance.

"Damn, rich people..." We mumble together.

"Time to separate, see ya!" l say to Liam. He nods to me and then goes to room 3A. I need to go to 1A, but this school is so huge, l just can't find it. Then l run into my angel in disguise, Haruhi. "Oh Haruhi!" I exclaim.

"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out!" She says before laughing.

"I can't find room 1A." l read off my school brochure.

"We're in the same homeroom, just follow me!" Said a slightly over excited Haruhi.

That was how my first day at Ouran started. Pretty good if you ask me, but after school is when the interesting things happened...

After School

"What do you mean, you can't pick me and Liam up from school?!" l say into the cell phone. After the rest of the conversation ended, l let out my anger in a not-so quiet way, as in Liam was plugging his ears. Even he could only get an earful before he went crazy. But then l fortunately give up on my pointless anger and looked for a good place for Liam and l to study. Even though we are rich, we still need good grades to one day own the family business. Owning our families hospital business isn't my view of my perfect dream life, but since my world is already ruined, l don't see how owning it can possibly make my life _that_ much worse.

You would think with four libraries there would be one quiet place to study. Sadly not. Luckily from a couple girls l heard of some type of abandoned music room, that sounds very quiet, but at the same time, l feel that there is more to it than being abandoned. This is a rich people school! You would think every room is inhabited by some pointless club or extravagant sport, but l guess not. l ask them anyway and they were nice enough to specify that it is the one on the third floor and that we will know it when we see it. Me and Liam make our way down the hallway on the third floor and then l put my hand on the handle and open the door. What was on the other side, was probably my greatest therapy l could ever imagine, and the idiots that we had the fortunate pleasure of knowing and calling friends.

And that was the start of my new life here at Ouran Academy, and my new adventures with the Host Club.

A:N: Please Review! Don't be too harsh if you didn't like it! But other wise tell me what l did right, what you did like!

Edit: Now that I am 15 chapters into this story, I came back to fix a lot of mistakes. (It burned now that I got sooooo much better at grammar and got a beta too.) Please keep going! I promise it gets better!

Also, if you want a music list to go with this story, here are songs I felt pertained quite accurately to the plot of the story. Feel free to ignore or use this suggestion. I love pop and rock music, so if you aren't really into those two genres, this list may not be for you.

Never Too Late by Secondhand Serenade

Because of You by Kelly Clarkson

Here Without You by 3 Doors Down

Apologize by OneRepublic (I LOVE THIS SONG! ERMIGERSH! I LOVE THIS BAND! And quick heads up, I love Matchbox Twenty and Coldplay too, so I hope you think of this story whenever you hear them!)

Penguin by Christina Perri

Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Don't ask about some of the songs, I have this weird thing today where I'm finding that these songs relate to the story. Hope you like it!


	2. Oh My Goodness

Why Me?

Chapter 2 : Oh My Goodness...

Sentences in **BOLD** are in French

Melanie's Point Of View

"Hello, malady." I heard a seductive voice calling from the middle of the room. I looked over and there were seven guys, all dressed up as butlers, ready to serve your every order. The one in the middle, who I can only assume is also the owner of that perfect voice, was sitting on what seemed like a mini throne. He had blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes l have ever seen. On each side were two men that looked exactly the same, twins I presume. Their red hair and fiery auburn eyes seemed very familiar, maybe they were in french with me? Next to them is a tall dark haired student with an expressionless look on his face as he was holding up a smiling blond haired boy, but why was the little boy wearing a high school uniform? On the other side of the chair stood another tall dark haired boy with glasses. He was writing something down in his notebook, not even looking at me. Standing quite a bit underneath him was... Haruhi?!

"Hello, Melanie." She said with a charming smile. I was speechless.

"Oh, so you know this girl?" Said the blond boy walking over to me and then laying his finger to my chin. He didn't need to bend down very much, since l was five foot six, l could see that he was feeling a bit weird since the girls here were mostly five foot three or shorter.

"Well, my darling," He purred. "what brings you to the host club, sweet heart?" He asks me.

"Fingers off my sister." Said a quiet Liam, his sudden appearence startled all the members, he must have been in the shadows.

"Hello Liam!" said the little kid.

"Hello Hunny." said Liam. The tall dark haired student with the mixed skin looked at him and then gave him a nod. Liam returned it just as quick. It seems my brother makes friends very quickly.

"I am so sorry ,sir." Said the blond with a quick blush building in his cheek. This must be a first for the flirt. If l was on the verge of being chewed out by one of my future clients, l would feel the exact same way.

"Come here Melanie!" said and excited Haruhi. I walk over quickly, feeling everyone's eyes burn into me.

I whisper to Haruhi, "Who are all these men?" She smiles and the replies back

"These are my friends, the ones l was telling you about, the Ouran High School Host Club!" She replies with a adorable smile.

"Yes, that is the name of my beloved club." Says the blond boy coming up from behind and whispering in my ear. It surprised me so much, that I actually jumped out of his grasp into Haruhi. The blush on my cheeks must have been very obvious, because Haruhi told me not to worry and that Tamaki doesn't bite. So that's his name, Tamaki. It's a pretty cool name, l never heard of it in America.

"Let me introduce you to everyone!" she pulled me over to a couch and then sat down in the middle of another one across from me.

The red-headed twins sat down on each side of me and then leaned in close, then the one on the right whispered in a very enchanting voice, "So, you are Haruhi's new neighbor?" I nodded my head.

Then the one on the left leaned in closer and whispered seductively into my ear, "That's a shame your not ours, we could have sleep overs all the time and play with each other." My face burned red as a firetruck. My hormones started twirling and doing back flips.

Tamaki must have seen it because he came over and shouted, "You crazy doppelgangers! Get away from my daughter!" He then proceeded to pick me up from the couch and then plop me next to him and Haruhi. I was really surprised, all this was happening so quick, I couldn't keep up. The rest of the hosts took their seats.

Haruhi smiled at me reassuringly and began to speak again. "Well, since you already know me, l might as well start out with the host club king." Then she leaned in close and whispered, "Or as I like to call him, rich bastard number one."

Tamaki stood up came right in front of me and said, "That would be me, Melanie." He then kissed my hand and l just stared. He had a very handsome face, and l loved his happy-go-lucky attitude. I decided that he is my favorite for now.

"What a beautiful name! So French! Almost like honey on my tongue." Tamaki said. "Tell me, do you have any family origins in France?"

"**Yes. My grandmother is French, l was actually born in Paris, while my parents and my brother were vacationing there."** Tamaki looked at me surprised but then regained his calm composure.

"**This is amazing! My mother is French and I lived in France until I was fourteen. I hope to talk with you a lot more. You are very interesting."** l blushed at that last part.

My grandmother really was french, and before she died my father made us learn french, while my mother pressured us to learn Japanese. We all did, for her sake, and because she would bribe us with money for every solid conversation we had with her. No mistakes, five bucks. One mistake, none. Me and Liam were the only ones to really take her up on her offer though. Probably the reason she only took us to Japan with her.

"We're next!" said the twins while they jumped up excitedly. "To start our introduction, we want you to play a game with us!" They said together. "The 'Which One Is Hikaru Game'!" They topped off, much to my bewilderment, but took their offer with a smirk on my face.

"Bring it." l replied, with a confident look. They stared at me, but then continued with their little devil grins on their face.

The one on the left then spoke, "l am Hikaru."

Then the other twin spoke up. "And l am Kaoru."

Then they spoke together. "Milord, please cover her eyes." Then everything went dark, but l could hear the twins running around. I could only think how astonished they would be after l tell them apart, they were about to have the surprise of their life.

"Ok," they said together, "Open!"

The light attacked me, but there were the twins with matching hats on their head looking at me intently. I pointed to the one on the right and asked him what his favorite color was. His response involved staring at me like I was an idiot before asking me, "What does that have to do with anything?" I smirked again and then admitted that it had something to do with it.

Then l pointed at the other one and asked what his favorite meal was. He and his twin looked at each other, obviously confused, but then he replied the same as his twin, "What does that have to do with anything?" This time l let out a big grin and feeling very proud of myself, burst their bubble.

"The one on the left is Kaoru, the one on the right is Hikaru!" Everyone looked amazed.

"Only Haruhi has been able to tell us apart correctly, no one else." Said Kaoru.

"How?" Commanded Hikaru. I stared at them with a delighted grin on my face.

"It was amazingly easy, your voices are so different, as in Kaoru's is higher than Hikaru's!" I said as l sunk their last battleship.

They had their mouths hanging open, collecting flies, while Tamaki was laughing hysterically. All their life they were waiting for someone to tell them apart. Then Haruhi came and did exactly that, but they completely doubted anyone else would be able to. Then the twins put together a smile. "We like her! We are going to come and get her before you do Tamaki!" They said as they scooped me up, and brought me over to a third sofa. Tamaki sat there in shock.

Haruhi, who was wanting to get this awkward moment moving along and trying to help contain Tamaki's blush, said, "Ok Mori, Hunny, your turn."

The little kid came up and then responded, "Hello! I am third year Mitsukuni, but please call me Hunny! Oh yea, and this is Takashi! But everyone calls him Mori!" Mori gave a slight nod and then l gave them a friendly smile. They seemed really nice.

"Nice to meet you Hunny, and you too, Mori!" Hunny plopped down from the couch and came over to me. He looked very curious, then he lifted his finger and poked me in the cheek. It tickled so much, l started giggling.

"You have dimples, they are so adorable!" he exclaims.

"Thanks Hunny. For what ever reason, whenever someone pokes me in the dimples they tickle uncontrollably." He stared at me, but then gave me a great big hug then went back to Mori.

"And last but not least," Said glasses, "Is the vice-president, me. Kyoya Ootori. Second year, along with our brilliant king." He said as he gave a sarcastic stare at Tamaki, who was buffed up with happiness, he then came over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It felt cold, but that wasn't a problem since my cheek started burning up. Everything is so weird for me. All this kissing and the romantic roses, and the butler scene they had planned out was so amazing. Ecstasy is more appropriate for this situation.

"Well, that's every one." said Haruhi.

"In honor of our new best friend, gentlemen," Said Tamaki, "We shall throw a ball. Kyoya?"He continued. Kyoya gave a nod and then went off to his laptop to start planning.

"Great, a ball!" exclaimed Hunny as he started rambling about it. Is he always this excited?

No one was really paying attention until Haruhi piped up and asked me, "Would you like for me to take you dress shopping, Melanie?" Everyone's jaws dropped down. Was l not supposed to know something?

"So, you know my beloved Haruhi is a girl, huh?" Asked Tamaki.

"It wasn't rocket science." I reply. "Also she is my neighbor, l could have easily figured out. It would have been probably tonight anyway, since l am going over for dinner." I finish. Their jaws dropped even farther to the ground.

"Haru-chan is going to have a dinner without us? We want to learn more about Mel-chan and Liam-chan too!" complained Hunny.

Haruhi shook her head and then let out a long sigh. "Fine, all of you, at my house, 6 o'clock." She then stared at Tamaki, "Don't say anything stupid, ok Senpai?!" His eyes grew huge and then nodded fiercely. In the while that Haruhi is lecturing Tamaki, my cellphone rang and then my ringtone started drifting through the air. I go through my purse, trying to find it, and when l do l unlock it and slide my finger across the screen to answer the call. "Hello?...Oh mom...yea l will take Liam and come home...l don't want to go to a stupid meeting...what? I am going home, not going straight to a board meeting!" And with that l end the call.

I let out a deep sigh and then realize l can feel the stares piercing through my skin. Everyone was looking at me, while the Tamaki gave me a hug and told me they wish he could be like that. "Sorry guys, me and my family are going through a tough time. Hearing my mothers voice irks the hell out of me. Forgive me." I assure them. Hunny then comes running up to me and hugs me so tightly l can't breath.

"Please, Mel-chan, let us walk you home?" Hunny asks me with the most adorable eyes.

I stare at Liam who shrugs, his way of saying it is up to me. I would love to have you come with Liam and I." Everyone smiles and we are soon out the door, going home.

When we get home everyone stops me to give me their phone numbers. It takes a while, but in that time l feel like l have known them for years instead of a few hours. When they all leaves and everyone says they will see me later, a follow Haruhi to her apartment, while Liam goes to ours. When we get inside l take off my shoes leaving only my socks to be shown.

"Haruhi, can l ask you a question?" l say my voice getting shakier. I have only known her for two days, but I know that I need to keep her around.

"Sure." She responds. My voice gets higher and l feel like l am about to blow up from all the tears still contained in me.

"Do you, by any chance, know what it feels like to have you family almost ripped apart?" I ask her.

The question obviously startled Haruhi, but she replied in her common calm demeanor, "Yes, my mother died when l was young. It tore me apart, but l got through it with my dad. I took up the house work, and took care of him." She stops chopping vegetables for a second and just stares at them. "I had friends to get through it with. Just like you." I pause and look at her. "When we were walking home, while you were talking to Hunny and Mori, l was talking to the twins, Tamaki, and Kyoya. They were all very worried about you. Especially Tamaki." When she said that my heart stopped. It reminded me of how he called me his daughter earlier. "I am in no position to tell you what happened to Tamaki, but there is no doubt in my mind that you will find out very soon. He already considers you his best friend you know?" My eyes opened up at the thought of that. Didn't he say that earlier, while he announced the ball to the host club? I wanted to change the topic, I feel stupid for bringing it up.

"Do you want any help with the cooking?" I ask Haruhi. She was about to say something, but then shut her mouth and just smiled her signature smile.

"l would love some help." She replied. I was so grateful that she just went along with the topic change.

An hour later, the first host club member came. Tamaki was more than happy to set the table for us while me and Haruhi finished last minute cooking preparations. When it was all done me and Haruhi sat with Tamaki around the table just chatting until Kyoya came. Not even five minutes later did everyone else come piling in around the little table. I must admit that it was a little squished, but sitting next to the six hottest guys at school, l really didn't mind.

It was so much fun, but then the topic that l was trying to avoid as best l could (and had succeeded until now) came up. And it just so happened that it was Hikaru who asked the question at the most silent moment of the night, "Melanie what happened between you and your family that caused you to move here?" I was wishing l never heard it, but l really couldn't deny it when it was silent and Hikaru's voice rang through the air clear as day, but the hurt on my face still must have really shown because everyone was telling him to shut up. Then the room was quiet again, as if expecting me to yell at Hikaru or run out of here. Instead, l sat there and started to cry. I couldn't help it, all the pain and suffering that l held inside me, finally let go. Again. Tamaki was the first to try to comfort me, but instead, l hit his hand away and ran outside.

Hunny's Point Of View, Earlier

"I can't wait to get to Haru-chan's house! Can you Takashi?" l asked Mori while they were walking towards the twins house. "Hmm." replied Mori. I knew that Haruhi, and now Melanie, were like sisters to us. Nothing bad would happen as long as we were there.

They had not even reached the door of the Hitachiin household when the twins came out, ready to go. "It's about time you came out Hika-chan and Kao-chan!" l exclaimed. This was going to be a great evening. Just food, fun, and friends. I doubt anything could possibly ruin it.

We were all walking down the street when Hikaru started thinking out loud, "I wonder why Melanie appeared out of nowhere."

"What do you mean Hikaru?" Asked a slightly confused Kaoru.

"Well, first she transferred in the middle of the school year, second did you see the look on her face after she took that phone call with her mom? It looked spiteful. She looked like a snake who couldn't get enough venom into it's prey. And her brother is so protective, l mean, l know it is something all brothers do, but he seems like he wants to protect her from the bigger picture, since what she is bearing now is enough to make her unstable."

l contemplated that thought. It is true what he says, all of it. But l feel that everything about her situation was none of our business. "Hika-chan, l want you to know now that if you even so much as hint toward a conversation regarding that topic, l WILL beat the hell out of you, even if Takashi tells me it's wrong. This is your one and only warning. You are one of my best friends, but that level of emotional abuse is not going to be tolerated, especially when she is as weak as she is." l finish in one of my rare serious, actually-act-like-a-18-year-old voice, even though what l said may not be the most mature thing. My company stares at me in shock, they never have heard me say something so serious and not involve animals.

"Mitsukuni- " Mori begins.

"As l said," I cut him off, "even if Takashi says that it is wrong. Now we don't want to be late, so lets get going everyone!" l say returning to my childish demeanor. We walked the rest of the way there in silence.

I knock on the door of Haruhi's apartment and feel surprised when it was Melanie that opened the door.

She gave me that dimple smile that l love so much, and then let us in. She looks so happy. A good sign, l will not let anyone ruin that. As we sat at the table, the first few minutes were a couple of silent ones, while everyone was eating their food. Soon though, everyone was talking and the apartment got a bit too loud. So loud that Liam banged against the wall to warn us that we were on the verge of obnoxiousness.

It was at that moment that Hikaru decided to ask the 'forbidden' question, "Melanie,what happened between you and your family that caused you to move here?" I glared daggers at him for a moment, hoping that they would kill him in the instant, before staring in shock at Melanie. She was crying, no, bawling, but silently. The entire room went quiet again. Tamaki tried to tell her it was o.k. But she hit his hand and ran out of the apartment outside. After everyone took the shock in, I stood up, went to Hikaru, and slapped him as hard as l could. The pain instantly sank in as he started tearing up.

"Mitsukuni!" Exclaimed a surprised Mori.

"Save it! I told him! He better not ask Melanie that question, but NO! That was too hard to follow, wasn't it Hikaru?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Asking her that question, you bastard! Why don't you just rip her heart out while you're at it!" Then l instantly ran outside while everyone except the twins looked after me. The over whelming urge to go back in, and beat the shit out of him, was covered up by the even stronger one saying to go look after Melanie. You better watch your back for a while Hikaru. It is going to take a lot more than cake and cute things to fix this situation.

A/N: Hello! Melanie~Says here! Thank you for reading Why Me? It is my first fan fiction, so sorry if it isn't that good, but reviews sure help! Please, everything helps, especially criticism , but please don't be too harsh. And tell me what l am doing right too! What do you like from this story? It will help me for my new story that l will come out with soon. How many of you like protective, mature Hunny? I will definitely show his kid side most of the time, but for more dramatic parts, l plan on using the Hunny who is prepared to beat the shit out of people! Love you guys, please keep reading. If it is boring, again review! Tell me what YOU want!

Thanks,

Melanie~Says

P.S. That part where Hunny blew UP on Hikaru was really fun to write. If you write fanfiction for OHSHC, add a mature Hunny part blowing up on somebody.

Edit: I went through this again and caught A LOT of mistakes. Gosh I was a horrible writer in February... Anyway, once again, please keep reading! I will give you a hint, something super romantic happens in chapter 7! And somebody realizes something in chapter 4! (Kudos if you can guess who.) So again, please stick with me here!


	3. Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones

Why Me?

Chapter Three: Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones...

Hunny's Point of View

"Melanie! Melanie!" I screamed. Melanie is no where in sight. I haven't been running that long really, but still after every passing moment, fear and panic build up within me. The girl has only been here for two days for goodness sake! To make a gentle person like Melanie react that, it must have been like stabbing her in the back, right through the heart.

I am starting to really panic now. What happens if l don't find her? I hope she hasn't... no of course not. Could she have gone the other way? Damn it! I spent all this time possibly going in the wrong direction! Every precious second is passing by in what seems like slow dreary hours. How far could the girl possibly run? Should l call her mom? What about Liam? Liam is going to go mad! We managed to hurt his precious sisters feelings and lose her in only three minutes. What type of gentleman are we supposed to be!

Another ten minutes go by. Where are you Melanie? Then as l start walking past the grocery store, l hear a weeping sound coming from the dumpster. No, she couldn't be in that filthy dumpster sobbing about her recent memories. Cross my heart and hope to die, l went and looked. My worst nightmare came true. There was Melanie, sitting alone in the cold dark dumpster, still in her school uniform, crying. She looked up at me with her red eyes and puffy cheeks. The shame on her face was blazing like the sun, but the last thing l wanted to do was make her feel worse, which in this situation, is not possible at all.

"Melanie, will you please get out of the dumpster?" I asked her sweetly. All I heard was a soft mumble of some gibberish in return. "Please Melanie? We are so worried about you. Come on, lets get up now." I lend her my hand, but she only looks down in disgrace. "Ok, then. I see it will take some convincing to get you out of there." l say. If she won't get out, l will get in. I jump through the dumpster doors, right at Melanie and embrace her into a tight hug.

She will not get through this alone. Not as long as l am still living on this earth. We may have only met today, but this is a situation no human being should go through alone, no matter how cruel or how shy.

"Melanie, it is ok. Hikaru was only being his usual idiotic self." I say in a gentle tone.

"It is ok. I am not mad at him," She started, "honestly if l was in his position, l would be just as curious, but...I-I-I am..." she took a deep breath and regained her posture just a bit, I could see that she was still trying to fight off tears. "I am just going through a difficult time in my life right now. I will get over it soon, don't worry. I don't want to worry anybody about me so much, just give me a-" That's all she got to say before I cut her off.

"No! Whatever happened must have been horrible! You don't have to say that! If it takes you your entire high school career, then so be it! Just take your time, do whatever it takes to make yourself feel better!" I exclaim "Melanie, l doubt any one in the host club would deny you the help and comfort, even after only a day of knowing a wonderful lady like you."

She stares at me with her huge brown eyes, almost as if she expects the host club to come out of the shadows and say 'Surprise! We were just trying to emotionally scar you! And it worked! Your reaction was gold!', but it never happened.

Then her eyes started to fill up again, and she hugged me. l hugged her right back, she needed to feel, to know, that everything l said is true. She started weeping softly in my shoulders, and l felt like l really made a connection.

"A divorce." She says in a barely audible whisper. Wait a divorce? Did she say divorce?

"My parents are getting a divorce, but on top of that l have two identical twin sisters, who l may never see again. I heard my mom trying to fight for their custody rights all night last night, but it didn't sound like she was winning. She wasn't just fighting about that either!" Her voice was rising in anger. I am scared for what she is going to say next.

"I never got to say good bye to anyone! It is not fair! I loved my dad! I love my sisters! There even is a hole in my heart where my cat was! Why the hell did it happen to me?! The only thing that didn't happen yet is that my dad's high blood pressure has taken his life! You don't understand though do you! It never has happened to you! Damn you rich people! Why the hell-I-I-It isn't-" And the dam breaks again. This time, l just sit and hug her again. She doesn't push away, but instead she hangs on burying her face in my chest. We sit there for what seems forever, and when l don't hear the weeps anymore, l push her curly hair out of her face and look at her closed eyes. She must have fallen asleep crying.

I turn around when l hear a sudden knock on the dumpster. I take off my jacket, making sure not to wake her, and lay her head on it. I silently get out of the dumpster and go check around. There standing on the other side is the host club. Tamaki had tears in his eyes, as did Hikaru and Kaoru. Kyoya was staring at the ground while Mori and Haruhi were staring at me.

I walk up to them and ask "How much did you hear?"

Tamaki shook his head. "We got here just in time to hear her tell you the truth." He said.

I closed my eyes, trying to hold back my own tears, but responded any way "She is knocked out cold in there. I gave her my jacket, even though that dumpster really isn't what we expected it to be. It actually looks brand new." Tamaki starts to head toward the opening on the other side of the dumpster, but then the twins stop him. They then start to go and pick Melanie up. When they take her out, the tips of some of her curls are wet and her dress is very crinkled.

We all start walking back to Haruhi's apartment, when she wakes up from the movement. Her expression as she sees the twins is almost a mixture of total horror and confusion.

"Wait- what? Where am l? Why are the twins carrying me? Can you let me down please?" They let her down, but she immediately loses balance and crashes, head first, right into Hikaru, who gladly supports her the rest of the way there.

When we get there we see Liam waiting outside Haruhi's door. Was he expecting us? When he spots us he nods at me and the rest of the host club and then takes Melanie from Hikaru's arms. He says good night all of us and then returns with Melanie inside their apartment.

We all return to Haruhi's apartment, who has told us it is only eight and that we can say there a little longer. We all sit down around the table and sit in silence for a few moments before l realize people are staring at me.

"You guys wanna hear the rest of the story, huh?" I say in my quiet, mature voice. They all look at me more expectantly. "Well, their isn't much more to it, sorry to tell ya. She may have a grudge against rich people, but other than that, l see nothing else to tell you." I tell them. "Oh, sorry l forgot, there is something else." I begin. Everyone looks eager to learn more, except for Haruhi, who obviously feels like we are digging into her personal life. "I am going to take her to therapy, but l have some other clubs every once in a while so if one or two of you can help-"

A surprisingly quiet Hikaru cuts me off. "I will do it." I smile at him.

"Great, thank you very much." The smile holds so much anger, but l am going to be mature about it and not do anything rash. If l do beat him up, it will definitely be planned.

Next Morning

Melanie's Point of View

Everything after l fell asleep in Hunny's arms is a giant blur. It almost feels like l am experiencing a hangover, did the twins spike my drink? No, l served the drinks. Silly me, thinking of something like that.

All l could do is think about last night, before l confessed everything to Hunny. I was so caught in my world, l didn't even realize someone before me was trying to catch my attention.

"Mel-chan, Mel-chan!" I hear a voice say. Wait, Mel-chan?

"Oh, hey Hunny! Wait, why are you in my homeroom? I thought you were a third year?" I ask. It is so funny seeing Hunny act like a little kid again after all the seriousness that he showed last night.

"Mel-chan, are you ok? You never act like that, all glazed over in you own world." Hunny says curiously. "Oh, never mind that! Here are some cakes!" he excliams. He then hands me a box of delicious-looking luxurious cakes. I hear all the other girls whisper as they experience the scene first hand.

"Thanks so much Hunny! Lets share them with the host club later, ok?" I ask him. He gives me a warm smile before hugging me and then returning to homeroom after a swift goodbye.

I sit right next to Haruhi and Kaoru in homeroom, which after last nights situation is pretty awkward to me. Right before l went back to la-la-land, Hikaru came up to me. One host after another. Who's next, Tamaki?

"Umm, Melanie, l want to say l am sorry for last night." He stutters. I stare at him, he is starting to build red cheeks and he can't look me straight in the eye.

"It's ok Hikaru, you were only curious, no harm done." I say.

"No. Harm was done. And l am very sorry for it. Please accept this in return for the slightest possibility that you can forgive me." He hands me a black box with silver trimming and fancy gold symbol in the middle. I look at Kaoru, who was only smirking at his brother, then Haruhi, who was too caught up studying to pay attention, then back at Hikaru, who was looking at the ground. Slowly, l open the box. When l see the beautiful object l see inside, l leap up and hug Hikaru as hard as l could. Hikaru was surprised, but accepted it anyway.

"So l take that as a 'l like it'?" He asks me. I nod excitedly. The bracelet he gave me was so beautiful, it was a silver charm bracelet with an American flag charm, a cat, and some other adorable charms on it. He lifted it out of the box and then hooked it around my wrist. I lifted up my arm to carefully examine the charms, one by one, against my skin. Everyone was staring at us with their jaws dropped open. My third day in the country and l already was best friends with three people in the host club? To make things even better, Tamaki came rushing through the door.

"Haruhi, Melanie!" He exclaimed. "I have important news for you!" Everyone really was staring now, even sensei.

"Umm, Suou. What are you doing in my class exactly?" asked sensei.

Tamaki halted right in his tracks, turned around, walked up to her, and said "I obviously came to this classroom for _you_, malady. No one in this school really gives me as much pleasure as you do." he whispered. He made sure to really add an extra touch of flattery in the end, because her face went from pale to red as a cherry in three seconds flat.

"Anyway, Melanie, Haruhi! I still haven't told you the news!" He said returning to his non-womanizer self already. "Ok, we must keep our voices down. My distraction will only give us another couple minutes before she really kicks me out, and l really don't want to rush the process." He started. "We have all the preparations made for the ball, l just need my precious daughters to go dress shopping!" Tamaki whispered softly with a slight squeal of excitement in the end.

"Boss, l feel like there is some type of pervert motivation behind you getting Kyoya to plan this so quickly." Said the twins in their teasing voice. Tamaki's face lit up red and then continued by pleading that he wasn't like _that._ It took a while to calm him down, and then, just as Tamaki said, sensei kicked him out.

The entire day went by pretty fast. I was getting questioning looks from much of the class, but other than that everything went according to plan. That is until this afternoon.

After Haruhi and I walked home from school, we found out one of the worst possible things. Ranka was sick. Not like 'minor cough' sick, but more like 'he has a bad case of the flu' sick. So, unfortunately Haruhi had to cancel our plans to go dress shopping this afternoon to look after her dad. She said go on without her, but I didn't feel that it was right without her. Never the less, the ball was tomorrow and l needed an actual gown. Even though l absolutely hate dresses, l felt that it was only one night, and that it wouldn't kill me.

So as l was walking down the street, l saw this big fancy shop, that l was certain was out of the price range l was given by my mom, but still went in anyway. Inside was a wonderland of all the latest styles and trends.

I was walking through the store when l saw a lady with fiery red hair and auburn eyes wearing some official looking clothes, and a name tag that read 'Hello. My name is Yuzuha.' l went up to her and asked her if she worked in the store. When she replied yes l asked where the gowns were and she quickly pointed me in a direction. As l was walking over their, l couldn't help but wonder why she looked so familiar, must have been my imagination.

All the dresses were so amazing! I couldn't just chose one! But, l always feel like l am standing out in every color l chose, l really need a professional's personal opinion. So, as l am walking around looking for an employee, l see that fiery red hair over the dress racks, and l thought that it must be the lady from earlier. I go up and tap her shoulder and when she turns around... it isn't her.

"Hey Melanie! I haven't seen you in an hour or so." Says a smiling Kaoru.

"I am generally surprised to see you here, Kaoru." I reply smiling back.

"Well my mom kinda owns the store so... that dress would look amazing on you! And that gold is like heaven with your skin tone!" responds Kaoru, changing the subject. I put the pieces together; That lady was Hikaru's and Kaoru's mother.

"Well, thanks Kaoru, but l am not gonna buy something so short, was just coming to ask someone to see if the gold complements my skin tone." I said, holding up the short dress.

"Now you found out your answer, here follow me! I know the perfect dress!" Said Kaoru as he tugged me to the dressing room.

"You go in here, l will pass you the dress in just a moment." Before l had an opportunity to answer, he was already gone.

"Well, if l have no choice..." l thought as l got in and waited for fifteen seconds before a gold dress popped over the door.

Kaoru was very impatient, asking 'Are you done yet' every five seconds.

After l put it on, l said l was ready and was about to walk out before he said "Wait!" and then tossed over some matching heels and some earrings. After l somehow managed to put everything on, l asked Kaoru if l can come out, to which he replied yes.

As l came out and the bright light hit me, l felt almost like a disco ball, l was sparkling _that_ much. Kaoru's mouth was open. That has never happened to me before.

The dress was floor length, but you can barely see the matching heels. It had a halter on top, which l didn't know was a halter until I finally figured out my head was supposed to go _through _the diamond. The earring dazzled from under my chocolate brown locks. My light brown eyes were shining along with the rest of me.

"You look... amazing." Kaoru stuttered out. I blushed. I haven't had a guy call me pretty before.

"Thanks, but l feel weird. Dresses are _not_ my thing. I actually despise them. Can l get changed back into my jeans, please?"

"No. Walk around. Make sure they are comfortable. Besides you are so pretty, you should get used to dresses, l would put you in one everyday." Kaoru responded. Again, l blushed. I feel like he was imagining me as Haruhi when he said that.

"Not if my life depended on it, Kaoru." I answered.

"We'll see when it comes to that situation." He replied. I glared at him, knowing the twins, that genuinely scared me. They might actually hold onto that promise.

After a couple minutes of whining and reminding Kaoru that he will probably see me in it tomorrow, he finally let me change back into my comfy jeans and shirt. "Glad l can finally go home and forget about the dress shopping." I told Kaoru as l walked out of the dressing room. "Hey, Kaoru. How much is the dress anyway?" l ask as l started pulling up my hair into a pony tail.

"It's only eight hundred thousand yen." Said Kaoru. I almost died when l heard that.

"Eight hundred thousand yen! What is that, eight thousand dollars?!" I said, tripping in the process. "That is _way _too expensive, Kaoru!"

He mumbles something under his breath before replying "Fine. I will buy it for you, no catch." I feel like l am digging my own grave hearing all these large numbers.

"That is too much to ask for! I won't be able to return the favor!" I said. I really liked the dress, but that price tag is not worth it.

Kaoru smirked before saying, "But you in this dress will pay for my happiness a million times over again." That stopped me cold. Maybe l didn't hear him right, but l feel that he was hinting at something. I looked down in embarrassment.

Kaoru turned me around, took my chin with his finger, and my looked me straight in the eye. His face was so close to mine, l could feel him breathing on me.

"Please? In the end, you will definitely thank me for it." He whispered flirtatiously. In the end? What does that mean? I started contemplating everything that just happened, but then realized that he left without me and already was checking out. I ran over to him, but by the time l came over he was already turning around to leave.

"Kaoru! Why did you buy it? I told you it was too expensive!" I exclaim.

He chuckled and then repeated, "You will thank me for it later." Then we both hear my stomach growling angrily. It seemed like everyone heard, because people started staring our way.

"Come on, I will take you out for some dinner." Kaoru said and then pulled me out of the store, down the street, and into a fancy looking restaurant.

"This really is too much Kaoru. Let me at least buy dinner." I plead.

"No, can't do that sweetheart." He replies. "You have called me that quite a lot this evening Kaoru." I say. I feel like l was Katniss and he was Haymitch, always calling me sweetheart.

"Well, it is my new nickname for you." He starts, "But anyway, l can't let you pay for dinner, it isn't something a proper gentleman would do." He finishes.

I didn't think that Kaoru would think so much of being a gentlemen, especially after l heard of the twincest act they do at the host club.

We talk the rest of the evening and enjoy the dinner. Kaoru has an amazing taste in food. The food here was great, my first real taste of Japanese cuisine.

"Hey, Melanie? Melanie, helloooo." Kaoru asks alerted.

"Oops, sorry! Just started thinking that's all." I reply, finally off my express train from la-la-land.

"Oh, well l said that l we can go now. I just payed." Damn it! I stopped paying attention and he paid.

"Fine." I say as l stand up and grab my purse. We walk out the store and down the street, taking a left when we get to the intersection to the apartments.

"Hey, Melanie. If you don't mind me asking, do you think that the host club gave you a bad first impression?" Kaoru asked with a curious tone to my voice.

"I wouldn't say they gave me a bad first impression, it was actually pretty interesting and quite fun." I say. "It is just the second time l saw you guys that l wish went different." I answer quietly. Kaoru turned his head after l said that. The tears were threatening to spill again.

"Can we pick up the pace please?" I ask. If I start crying l didn't want anyone to see me.

Kaoru pulled me up from under my feet and started running with me in his arms. I just stayed there in his arms and started snuggling in his chest. Why? Because the tears spilled, one by one, getting faster after each one.

I could feel when Kaoru started slowing down, and then peeked out from my position to see the apartments so close to us. Kaoru gently put me down then grabbed me and pulled me into his chest. Was he pitying me? No, l doubt it. He was hugging me too sincere for that. It didn't matter though, l hugged him right back.

We stayed like that for a couple minutes, before we let go. He then looked me in the eye, touched my curls, and then gave me a kiss on the cheek, so close to my lips, l started heating up.

"I apologize for everything my idiot twin and l have done and will do in the future, but you must know that we are just doing that to tease you." He says with a smile stuck on his face. He then gave me the bag with the dress in it, said goodbye, and then turned around and walked away.

I stood there. Watching him go. Seeing his body get smaller as he gets farther away from me, right into the moon lit night. Thinking of the peck on the cheek he gave me, left me feeling fuzzy all night long. It was the only thing l thought of all night, but that feeling vanished only a couple days later and was replaced with a new one. It wasn't until later that l found out that that feeling was called love.

Hitachiin Household

Hikaru's Point of View

"So, Kaoru," Starts Yuzuha, "Who was that girl you were with at the store today?" My ears perked up when he heard that.

"It was a girl from my class. I was helping her get a dress for the ball." Replied Kaoru, who was very absorbed in a book he was reading.

"Well, she had the most adorable dimples, and she had the curliest hair I have ever seen. And she was tall! Almost as tall as me, except by about two inches!" Exclaims Yuzuha.

"Yea, she gets the dimples from her dad, also her curly hair too." He says with a slight smile on his face. This girl sounds a lot like Melanie. What if it is Melanie he is talking about? Why is he smiling? Did he do something to her? Did _they_ do something together?

"Her dad is very tall, six feet exact l heard." Kaoru continued.

"Well, the gold dress you picked out for her was a great choice Kaoru. I am very proud of you. It was very balanced with her skin. Tell me is she mixed?" Asks Yuzuha. Kaoru gives her a nod and then she goes off again.

"Hey, Kaoru, she couldn't for any reason be talking about Melanie could she?" I ask.

"I think silence is my best option." Is Kaoru's response before turning back to his book with a smirk on his face.

**A/N**: End of chapter three! I am liking the way the story is turning out, but l would appreciate reviews so YOU can like the way it turns out. R&R!  
~Melanie~Says

Edit: 'Ello! I have finally fixed most of the grammar horror in this chapter, but I still have about 4 more chapter's that I wrote without my beta, so here I go -_-

Anyway, stick around for chapter four! I promise that the story get's a lot better!


	4. The Ball

Why Me?

Chapter 4:The Ball

Melanie's Point Of View

"Mel-chan!" Hunny screams as he busts in the dressing room of the host club. "Mel-chan, are you finished yet? The cake at the ball isn't going to eat itself!" He says impatiently. He sounds exactly like Kaoru when l was putting on the dress then.

"Wait one moment." I mutter starting to get a little annoyed. Hunny acted like a little brother, most of the time. Always bothering you, but you love him any way and wouldn't trade him in for anyone in the world. Not even Justin Timberlake.

"And finished!" I excliam as l step out into the dressing room. l was looking down at Hunny, waiting for him to say something.

He had a gigantic grin on his face and then told me exactly what l thought he would say, "Mel-chan! It's about time you get out of there. Now lets go eat cake!"

"Sorry Hunny, Melanie is going through the make-up department first. Aka, me." Kaoru cuts in as he comes through the door with a box of cosmetics.

"Well, Kaoru l am not a fan of make-up. It feels way too heavy on my face." l respond, obviously trying to signal l don't want any.

Kaoru chuckled, obviously thinking of something, but then continues, "Fine, just some things to high light your features, nothing major."

Then l feel a chair being pushed underneath me and look behind me to see Tamaki with a giant grin on his face.

"Yes, mademoiselle. We just want to put on some light make-up. Just don't tell Haruhi that what we did to her the last ball was light make-up." Tamaki proclaims quickly. That got me thinking, and scared. What is their definition of 'light make-up'?

"Oh, it is not that bad." Kaoru impatiently states. "Just a few powders and some cream. Is that really that horrifying?" I shook my head no to signal my defeat and then Kaoru immediately put his smile back on his face and started applying so many things to my face, l lost count.

When he finished a fifteen minutes later, my face felt so weird. Kaoru told me not to touch my face until l wash it off later tonight. Scared what would happen if l did, l took his warning seriously and resisted every urge to scratch that itchy powder off my face.

While l was being re-done, Mori and Kyoya came in, they were so bored since the preparation for the ball are finished.

"So, now that l am finished, are you guys ever going to get out of you uniforms?" Every one stood there, until they stared at each other and realized l spoke the truth. They didn't want to change while a girl was changing, it is just too tempting for their hormone crazed minds. Well, what do you expect from teenage boys?

"Ok men." Starts Tamaki, "It is time to get ready for the ball!" And with that everyone except for Mori started unbuttoning their jackets and taking off their shirts. Now my hormones were going crazy and my face went red in a snap.

"Guys, can you at least wait until l find the way out of the room?!" I exclaim while trying to hide my eyes from their perfection.

I felt hands on my arms that were slowly pulling them away from my eyes.

"Well, sweetheart, whats wrong with you waiting in here with us?" Said Kaoru.

They can't control themselves anymore. They are the five cutest guys in school, can have any girl they want, but they still act like this? I started heating again, but tried to get out of the room to save me the embarrassment Kaoru was about to unleash. When l spot the door l rush towards it, only to have it open and me smack right in the middle of Hikaru.

When l fell, l fell right on top of him in the most awkward position known to a non-dating couple.

"I am so sorry Hikaru! I only wanted to get out, so when l ran to the door you opened it, and... and... I am so sorry!" I exclaim with my eyes closed the entire time.

"Relax it was an accident, but can you please get off me?" He asks quietly.

l open my eyes and see l am laying on Hikaru. Great first l had to wear a dress, then l was forced to put on make-up, and now this. My cheeks heat up again, except this time worse. There is a _major_ difference between being in a room of men, and lying on top of one. I quickly scatter to my feet and bolt through the door, not stopping until l get to the girls bathroom down the hall from the music room.

Hikaru's Point of View

Before He Opens The Door To The Club

I can't believe right after school, mom decided to use my help for some model work. Why didn't she use Kaoru? He loves all that fashion stuff. As l get to the club room, l hear soft words coming from the door, so l eavesdrop for a second before l enter. No one is in here, but there is a light coming from under the dressing room. This is definitely not good if Melanie is changing in there. You only have to give everyone, a command to take off your shirt before things get crazy.

As l reach the door, I hear Tamaki say something and then some running shortly after. This can _not_ be good. I open the door and then get run into by a surprisingly red Melanie. She was probably harassed by Kaoru. I have to admit, l wish I was there to see what he did that made her so red, but then as l peer to the side of Melanie, who is mumbling something about 'sorry' and still laying on me, l see that there are four shirtless hosts in there, and one fully dressed one, enjoying the scene.

Melanie looks like she is going to pass out if I don't say something.

"Relax it was an accident, but can you please get off me?" I say as gentle as l could. Dare I say, her cheeks got even redder. And she bolts up and runs out of the club, quite fast for a girl wearing a dress.

As I get up, my head starts throbbing a little from being hit on the ground.

"So, what was that about guys?" I ask. "Stop messing with her ok! She has only been here for a week you know!" I exclaim when no one responded.

I was angry, but the hosts ignored me and kept on changing. That kind of pissed me off more than l already was, but l had better things to do than try to find out new ways the host club is trying to sexually harass people. Suddenly my mind wanders off to Melanie again, who just ran out of here, almost crying. I should probably find her and comfort her, maybe tell her everything is alright, play with her hair, touch her dimple filled cheeks... WAIT! Those were some weird thoughts right there, nothing l should think of, but never the less, I fill with some indescribable feeling that wants me to keep thinking those thought, actually do them.

"Hey Hikaru. What are you thinking of that makes you blush like that?" Asks my twin with the most mischievous look on his face.

I touch my cheeks, and feel that they're burning. This caught the attention of a certain half-french womanizer.

"As long as you aren't thinking of my youngest daughter, l am fine with whatever you are thinking, you doppelganger." said Tamaki, buttoning up his vest.

That made my cheeks burn even hotter, which Hunny saw and immediately chirps, "You _were_ thinking of Mel-chan! Hika-chan likes Mel-chan! Hika-chan likes Mel-chan!" Hunny sang. I could swear, sometimes l really wish Hunny would act his age, which by the way, is older than all of us. I start turning around after Kaoru and Tamaki join the chorus. I was already dressed for the ball anyway, l had no business in there in the first place.

When l walk out the door and down the hall way I hear talking, but both voices sound the same. Is someone talking to them self? I go farther down the hall, getting closer to the source of the sound, and stop at the foot of the door to the girls bath room. It finally hits me who is in there after l hear 'I can't believe those damn hosts!'.

" Melanie, will you come out please?" I ask in the most polite voice l will ever use.

"Who is that, Hikaru? How are you talking to me through the walls?" Questions Melanie. Sometimes I feel she and Haruhi bring new definitions to the word 'air head'.

"I am talking through the door Melanie." I respond. Slowly l hear her breathing speeding up. It must be incredibly quiet, because l am pretty sure l can hear her heart beat too.

"Is the ball starting yet?" She asks, suddenly a lot quieter.

"Almost, ten more minutes." I answer, leaning against the door frame.

"Come on, l haven't gotten a good look at you in you dress." I say, hoping she wont realize that my hormones said that.

"I will come out then in ten minutes." She responds.

"Come on, please?" I whimper.

I hear a sigh, and then the door opens to reveal Melanie, looking prettier than I've ever seen her before.

It didn't take rocket science to figure out my cheeks went red, and I kept stuttering over what to say next, but l finally got the words out. "You look beautiful." I assure her with a smile.

She lifts her head and looks at me with her giant brown eyes and then breaks into a grin. "Thanks, you should tell Kaoru something since he picked it out." She replies. I shake my head at the thought of my twin being behind this.

"May l?" I ask, holding up my arm for her to take. She gladly accepts and l lead her down the hall to the ball room.

When we enter guests are already circling the ball room in majestic swirls and careful dips. Kaoru sees me and Melanie come into the room and gives me a thumbs up. I feel something nagging me about Kaoru being the brains behind everything that has happened to me in the past thirty minutes and what ever happens the rest of the night.

After talking to some people, Melanie excuses herself to go eat something while l go outside to go think, even though it was interrupted by no other but my 'daddy'.

"You know if you like her, you should tell her." He says leaning back on the bench. I stare at him while he continues, "You may have only known her for a week, but I doubt she is the type of girl who would be only a fling."

"Tamaki, l don't know how to do that. The truth is, that this feeling l have inside of me right now, I have never had it before." I reply. This widens Tamaki eyes, but then he slips back into a sly grin.

"Well, I guess this may be a good time to tell you that she hasn't had her first kiss yet." Says Tamaki. That brings shock to my face, but is then quickly covered up by the fact that Tamaki knew that.

"So, Tamaki, how would you know that?" I ask him, suspiciousion arousing in my voice.

"Well, l am her daddy, aren't l?" He continues with a 'better just leave it at that' look on his face.

"This may also be a good time to tell you this one quote my mom told me in a completely different situation, but still works in this one. That if you want to remember it, it must be something worth remembering. So don't make it cheesy, show her something that comes from your heart, even though l doubt you will think of that in the heat of the moment." Tamaki states.

He has a point. I doubt l will be thinking the second l feel the time is right. Then I say the words I never thought I would say to Tamaki, "Thanks for the advice Boss." I reply.

This surprises him, but then he asks "Can you say that again, except this time, let me record it." I hit him in the head for acting like that after I said it, once was painful enough, but twice? Sounds like a death wish to me.

Then l lift my head and see Melanie dancing with Hunny. I couldn't help laughing, Hunny is so short at 4'10" and she is 5'6", it just gives me the urge to laugh.

"Go up to her and ask her to dance." Urges Tamaki, also staring at the situation. I stand up and go through the giant french themed doors to Hunny and Melanie.

"Will you give me the pleasure of being my first dance this evening?" I ask. Her eyes sparkle and you can see her dimples appearing even without a real smile.

"I would love to." She replies as she takes my hand.

Hunny takes a step back, and watches in aw as the two dance. "They do look adorable, don't they?" Asks Tamaki. Hunny nods and then realizes Tamaki is crying.

"Tama-chan! What is wrong?" Asks an alerted Hunny.

"My little girl grew up so fast!" He cries out before a new wave of tears flowed. Hunny led Tamaki outside so he can calm down, but not before taking a look at the future couple on the dance floor.

"Hikaru, now that l see you up close, l recognize something different between you and Kaoru." Says Melanie. I stare at her curiously before she answers, "Your eyes look so much more optimistic compared to Kaoru." she finishes. I contemplate that for a moment, before changing the subject. I have a feeling Kaoru is up to something and l don't want to find out until l have to.

"The decorations are amazing, don't you think?" I ask, staring at the ceiling of stars that Kyoya came up with the idea to use.

"Yea, they are." She replies.

"What a great night. I danced with everyone, had some awesome food, and l-" Melanie starts before being interrupted by a yawn.

"Tired, huh? It is pretty late anyway, let me get Kaoru and we can get the limo to take you home." I tell her.

"Oh, there is no need! I will just get a taxi!" She assures me. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"At 10 at night? You rather ride in a taxi, with some weirdo, who may l mention is probably a male in his thirties, who hasn't shaved in three months, than go with two people you know, straight to the apartments?" I ask.

I was worried for her safety, I honestly was. And the thought of a fifteen year old girl in the same car as a grown man didn't exactly put my thoughts for the worst to ease.

"No it isn't that, l just don't want to cause you trouble, that's all." She whispers. I start smiling again.

"No problem at all, I insist." I reply. She sighs in defeat, but then accepts.

"If you will excuse me, l must find my twin." I announce.

She nods and then goes off to Tamaki, Hunny, Mori, Haruhi, and Kyoya. I, in the meanwhile, am actually trying to find my twin. I couldn't find him anywhere until l see a flaming head of hair dancing with a girl, most likely a customer. I go over any way, that girl can see Kaoru five days a week, she will live if l take him away.

"Hey Kaoru, Melanie is pretty tired and so am l, so l'm going to call the limo. Meet outside in ten minutes." I tell him as I go off to make the phone call.

After l finish the phone call, l go back to the couches that all the hosts are sitting on and pick up Melanie, who was basically sleeping with Hunny on the couch. I say goodbye to everyone and wish them a good night, and then make my way to the limo. When l get there, I see Kaoru leaning against it waiting for me. When he sees me carrying Melanie, he opens the door for us. It is a lot of hard work trying to get a sleepy girl in a limo, but in the end she woke up and got in herself. I get in next to her, and five seconds later, she is sleeping again, with her head on my shoulder. I, in return, lay my head on hers and fall asleep too, but before l do l hear Kaoru say something about 'how cute they look.'

Next thing l know, l feel Kaoru shaking me gently, telling me to wake up. I look outside the window and see the apartments being lit only by the one street light. I turn to my other side and realize Melanie is still sleeping on my shoulder.

"Wake up Melanie, your home." I say as I gently shake her. After a bit of shaking her eyes start to open and she starts to realize where she is.

"Can l have five more minutes, l was having an awesome dream." She mumbles and then falls back on my shoulder.

"No, your bed is in your apartment, which is only a couple feet away from the limo." I scold her. She grumbles in return, but then starts moving.

After we both manage to get out of the limo, l help her up the stairs and to her apartment. Before she puts her keys in the door, she looks at me and smiles.

"Thanks for everything. Goodnight Hikaru." She calmly states.

I give her a quick hug, much to her surprise, but she gladly accepts. And with that she goes inside.

As l get back to the limo, Kaoru is smiling at me, "You should hear yourself when you sleep you know." I stare at him curiously. Whatever he means, it can't be good. I know I can tell him anything, but the dream I had while I was sleeping, is _not_ one of them.

"Oh Melanie, you are so pretty!" He starts mimicking in a high pitched voice. "Your curls are so perfect, your dimples so adorable!" He continues. My face is as read as a tomato, so maybe my dream wasn't really being kept to myself.

"Cut it out, Kaoru!" I exclaim, starting to get a little angry. My dreams are _none _of his business. He is still smiling, but stops.

"Thank you." I say before leaning my head back on the rest. And after five seconds of resting again, he starts making kissy noises.

"Will you just shut up Kaoru?!" I practically yell in the harshest voice l have ever used on my beloved twin. His face shows hurt for a second, but then straightens out and looks out the window. I am still shocked at myself, I yelled at Kaoru. This feeling inside me, is changing me. When the guys were teasing Melanie earlier, it made me mad. When Tamaki told me to tell her what I feel, I contemplated it. I didn't hit him or anything, not like the usual me. Now I am blushing like a maniac at the mere mention of her name. That dream l had, it wasn't something the regular me would dream about. The way l snapped at Kaoru just now, actually made me hate myself for a second, but at the same time, l don't despise this feeling at all. I actually like it, I like it a lot.

**A/N: **And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of chapter four. I was in a lovey-dovey mood when l wrote this chapter, mostly because l was listening to Far Away by Nickleback and Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol the entire time, as opposed to when l listened to High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup during chapter two. But anyway, I plan on working on this one thought in my head, so it may take longer than the usual one or two days for chapter five to come out. Hope you like the story so far! R&R please!

EDIT: I once again conquered the mighty beast of horrible grammar and I won't lie, I almost died again. Anyway, I don't exactly remember the exact chapter, but something comes up, and it's cute! But at the same time you're gonna wanna slap me. Anyway, please keep reading!


	5. Rooms For Eight

Why Me?

Chapter Five: Rooms For Eight

Melanie's Point of View

"I can't believe it Kyoya, you actually got my mom to say _yes_?" I ask in astonishment.

"Well, it took quite a bit of convincing, but other wise she agreed." He answered with a giant smirk on his face. My mom is single, when a handsome and persuasive man comes to her door step, who knows how he manipulated her to let me go. The sudden thought of Kyoya as my step-father sends shivers down my spine.

"Yay! Mel-chan is going on vacation with us!" Exclaims a gleeful Hunny.

It has been three weeks since the ball, and l have gotten to know a little more about each host. They almost feel like family to me now. Almost.

"So, where are we going?" I ask.

"Well, that all depends on one thing," Starts Tamaki, who's sitting on his throne in the middle of the room. "If you have a passport or not." He finishes.

"Yea, we finally got Haruhi one. Now we need to figure out if you have one." Says Hikaru.

The usually quiet Mori speaks up to bring up a good point. "Without a passport, she wouldn't have been able to get on the airplane to get here."

Tamaki does a face palm, but then gets over it and continues in a timelessly fabulous fashion, "So it is settled, we are going to the beautiful seaside of Italy!" The hosts were quite shocked to find that Tamaki rather go to Italy instead of France. On the other hand, his grand mother probably wouldn't have let him even think of going there.

"Sounds great!" l say. But then realize one important fact that I almost missed. "Wait a second, did you say the _seaside_?" I ask nervously.

Tamaki nods, "Is there something wrong with that?" He asks. I was considering to tell them for a second, but then thought that if I don't suck it up, I would just be acting super selfish.

"No, nothing is wrong with that." I say with my dimple smile on my face. Tamaki's face softens and he gives me a smile.

"Ok then, pack your bags we shall leave on the earliest flight Kyoya can book us for tomorrow!" He exclaims.

I don't understand damn rich people. I would be planning a trip at least two weeks in advance, but they just go on an airplane whenever the hell they want. But l have been invited to an all expense paid trip to Italy, so l really am not in a position to complain.

"What time is it?" I ask. My mom isn't going to be home for dinner, so l need to get home to cook some for me and Liam.

"Almost five-thirty. Why do you need to get somewhere?" Asked Hikaru.

"Yea. Gotta cook dinner tonight." I say as I pick up my school bag and head for the door.

"Be outside your house at 5:30, Melanie." Kyoya calls from his laptop.

" Don't get too much sleep sweetheart." I hear Kaoru mention from across the room.

"I won't, sweetheart." I call back. Then l shut the doors of the host club and return to my apartment.

When l get home, Liam is sitting at the table, doing his homework. "Hey Liam." I greet as l go wash my hands.

"Hey. Whats for dinner?" He asks.

"I was thinking chicken alfredo." I answer. He directs his attention to me and smiles. He doesn't smile very often, so I will do whatever l can to see it. Even if it means a intermediate cook like me, attempting to make his favorite dish for dinner.

I get a pot out and fill it with water and then place it on the stove to boil. Then l think that it would probably be better if l get out of my dress before l cook the chicken. So I do, and when l return l am in shorts and a graphic tee.

"Liam, don't you want to change into non-school clothes?" I say after l realize he is still in his uniform too. He shrugs, but then after more pestering about how hard it is to get sauce out of the jacket, he gets up and changes into some jeans and a t-shirt.

While l am cooking, Liam asks me something that l wasn't prepared for, "So, are you really spending your vacation with that group of idiots?"

"Well, yea l am. Mom somehow said yes," I answer. "Why do you ask?"

He is still staring at his homework, but then responds "Because you are a fifteen year old girl, going out of the country, with six guys, most taller than you and much stronger." So that is what he means.

"So, you're trying to say l spend every afternoon with a bunch of rapists?" I question him accusingly.

"Well, not exactly, but Tamaki is a real womanizer, and he is half-french. Who knows what they think in their minds. But the twins are pretty shady too, so l must agree with him on that..." Liam trails. I can't believe he thinking of the worst possible situation, now after knowing them. I stay after school and talk to Haruhi in the host club each day. After all the guests leave, then l would be in a pretty bad situation, but it hasn't happened yet so l doubt it will.

"Liam, you are going to have to calm down." I say as he starts talking about a rumor that Hunny took out two entire squads of green berets just because someone woke him up.

"I am just worried about you. I don't like the idea of you being alone with six guys and a Haruhi." He says.

"Liam, you need to stop worrying about me all the time. Find your self a girlfriend! You are on the soccer team! Girls love athletic guys." I tease. Liam is actually pretty good looking, he has black hair. He inherited my moms sea blue eyes, almost like Tamaki's. He is tall, ripped, a couple of my friends even had crushes on him. He could join the host club if he really wanted to.

"There is no use for them in high school, l will wait until after college." He replies stubbornly.

I give up on him, he is not going to budge on this. "Food is done." I say as I take the giant pot off the stove. He gets out a coaster and some plates, while l get two forks. We just chat over dinner, he was still trying to get me to stay home next week, but l refused. After dinner l packed my bags and then made a bowl of popcorn while Liam put in a movie. One thing me and Liam have in common, our love of horror movies. I don't know why Liam likes them so much, but l like them because they are so funny. You would think common sense tells you not to go to the door that just swung open by itself, but tell that to Katie.( Paranormal Activity Reference) I was laughing the entire time!

I won't be able to see Liam for another week, but this was a great way to say goodbye.

I wake up at four, and my first thought is to get five more minutes of sleep, but I put my phone on the other side of the room last night so l would have to get up if I wanted to turn it off. The familiar tune of my ringtone drifts through the air, but I don't want to wake up Liam so l have to turn it off.

I eat some breakfast and brush my teeth, then take a shower to wake the rest of myself up. I put my hair up in a tight bun, so when it dries it comes down in soft locks, and then look at my cell phones clock to see it is only five-ten. Twenty more minutes to go. I grab my mom's kindle and then play Sudoku for the rest of the time since falling asleep is too risky.

When I check my cell again and realize I have two minutes left, l make Liam a sandwich for breakfast and a note to say goodbye, then l grab my stuff and head outside. True to his word, there was a limo with the entire host club minus Haruhi in it. Just as l walk down the stairs I hear another door opening and Haruhi comes out . She walks faster to catch up to me and then we get to the limo together. Tamaki opens the door and we get in only to find that he and Hikaru are the only ones awake. Haruhi takes the spot next to Tamaki, while l take the one next to Hikaru.

"Good morning." He whispers.

"I am amazed how you are actually awake, l am so tired." I respond and let off a yawn. He smiles and then pats his shoulder. I smile back, and then fall asleep on his shoulders again.

When l wake up Hunny is wide awake, as are Mori and Kaoru, who is busy taking pictures of me. Then I recognize Hikaru's head is on mine and he is softly snoring. I don't mind though and just stay there with my eyes closed. My serenity only lasts a couple minutes as we pull up to the airport.

I gently shake Hikaru awake, and when he awakes, he asks for five more minutes, to which l respond, "The plane's headrest is a lot more comfortable than my head." He looks confused for a second, but then realizes he is lying on my head. He finally gets up, stretches, and then takes my stuff and his stuff as we get out the car. I can't wait until we get to Italy. The culture, the art, the food. It all sounds so good right now. So when we board the plane, I sleep most of the way there, having the most pleasureful dream of my life.

Italy After The Flight, In The Haninozuka Vacation House

"Ok, first things first,we have to make living arrangements." Haruhi says. Kyoya got out his notebook of mysteries and started to make a layout of the house.

"There are three bedrooms in this house, each with a large king bed." Starts Kyoya. "The twins will obviously share, as will Hunny and Mori, and me and Tamaki." I count on my fingers for a second, he read six names, there are eight of us. "You girls are the smallest so it doesn't matter where we place you." Kyoya finished.

"We take Melanie!" Exclaim the twins. I went along with it, but felt almost uneasy about it. Maybe Liam was right.

"My precious daughter will stay with us then!" Tamaki squeals in delight.

"Umm... Senpai. Are you sure about that? I can sleep on the couch..." Haruhi trails.

"No! You can't! The couch is not comfortable enough for you!"

Haruhi nods in defeat, she didn't want to share a room with two men who are each stronger than her and taller than her by at least one foot. I can't say l blame her. Everyone has their pervert moments, but the host club seems to have them on a daily basis.

"Well everyone, it is almost eleven at night lets get some sleep and finish all these plans tomorrow." Kyoya mentions while checking his watch.

I stagger upstairs, drowsiness has over come me again. When l get to the room, I take out my pj pants and shirt, and then place the bag in my closet. I find the bathroom and quickly replace my jeans with the silk material,and then take off my shirt to reveal my tank-top. I take out my hair band and brush through the curls, which are still a little wet and then pick up the dirty clothes to place in the bag. When l get back into the bedroom, I see Kaoru and Hikaru already in their pj pants... but with no shirt.

"Are you guys gonna cover up?" I ask, suspicious.

"Whenever you decide to." Answers Kaoru. I realize that l never put my shirt back on and am still in my tank-top.

"Touche." I reply as l go back in the bathroom and get my shirt. I put it on and put my clothes in a separate bag for washing. When l get back Kaoru is already laying down in the bed while Hikaru waits for me to get in. I stare or a second, but get in anyway.

I lay there for an hour before l could fall asleep. It may be because both twins were hugging me like l was some type of body pillow, but it is probably because that feeling is still inside of me. I don't mind the feeling, but I am just waiting for what will happen next. The unnamed feeling I have is like a roller coaster. It goes up and down, does loops, and if you are scared of it, it never seems to end. I realize eery quickly that l am very scared. I also know, that if this feeling is what I think it is, l can't let it grow.

Next morning

"Mel-chan, what do you want for breakfast?" Asks Hunny when l get downstairs.

"I don't care." I reply. I am not sleepy, because I took a shower and got ready, but the entire host club, except Kyoya who hasn't come down stairs yet, is still in their pj's and look like they are about to fall asleep.

"Maybe, l should cook Hunny. You look like you are about to fall asleep." I say while l take away the pan. Hunny barely has his eyes open, but nods his head and goes to Mori.

As l put some butter in my pan and whip the eggs, I hear someone enter the kitchen. "Ummm, what are you making?" Asks a curious Tamaki.

"Bacon and scrambled eggs." I say as I pour the egg into the pan and put some salt in.

"Can l help?" He asks. I was surprised Tamaki wanted to do such a commoner job, but I let him hold the spatula and showed him how to push it through the egg. He actually did a good job and before the eggs burned, he used his common sense and removed them from the heat. I don't understand why people call him an idiot.

After l have fried the bacon, I put it on a towel to get the grease off and then transfer that to a plate. Tamaki has been jumping up and down for a taste of the bacon, but I told him no since he was about to eat it at the table. I grabbed the bacon, and he grabbed the bowl of eggs and brought it to the pre-set table.

As I put down the bacon, the twins were 'ooh'-ing and 'ahh'-ing. Some times I really don't understand these damn rich people. Everyone helped themselves to the bacon and eggs, especially the bacon. By the time Kyoya came downstairs, there was only three pieces left. Over all, I think the host club was satisfied with my American style breakfast. Not that that surprised me, who can resist greasy bacon?

After we all finished, everyone helped clean up, and then they helped themselves to some coffee that I had the good sense to make. I start playing with my curls sub-consciously and soon Haruhi notices. "So, who did you get your super curly hair from?" She asks. My teeth start tightening, and my jaw locks, but I get over it.

"My dad. I look like a female version of him, except for the height difference. Same thing with Liam. He looks exactly like my mom, except he is taller." I answer.

"Will we ever get to see your dad?" Asks Hikaru. My smile fades away, and now my nerves start rising. I don't know how l even still call him my dad, as far as l am concerned, l am not related to that man.

"Not as long as I live." I reply. My usual calm presence is gone and replaced with an angry one. The way I speak is now harsh and cold instead of happy and understanding.

"Did someth-" Hikaru starts before Tamaki, Kaoru, and Mori clamp his mouth. He will never learn when to shut up.

"Excuse me." I say as I stomp outside to get some fresh air.

Tamaki's Point of View

"What the hell is wrong with you Hikaru?!" I exclaim.

He looks guilty, but then responds anyway, "Well, I was curious."

"Don't you remember you were curious at Haruhi's house too! Remember how that almost turned out!" I hiss. Sometimes l could swear that Hikaru is the stupidest person l know. That really means something coming from the person _he _calls idiot.

"There are somethings you don't ask a person who is angry. Could you really not tell that she was getting _angry_ as hell?!" Yells Kaoru.

"Well, no. I honestly couldn't." Hikaru responds.

"If we didn't stop you, that could have put a huge step back in your plans." I start. Mori, Kaoru, Haruhi, and Hunny were looking at me, obviously confused. I just realized what I said, I hope Hikaru wasn't trying to keep it a secret. He wasn't doing a very good job anyway, but nevertheless I still tried to cover it up. "Inside joke!" I exclaim. The host club isn't a group of idiots, I definitely know that, but thank goodness they left it at that.

"Well, I did act a little clueless." Hikaru admits. It is about time he finally realizes this flaw, it can definitely ruin his chances with Melanie, that and his uncontrollable curiosity. Deep down, Hikaru has a good heart and is very protective of his friends. But he can ruin things from the inside out if he doesn't learn to keep his mouth shut.

"I am going to go check on her." I say. I don't know why l volunteered and not Hikaru, but his face tells me he is grateful. What love can do to a person, I would know. As l go out on the balcony of the second floor, I see Melanie standing there, looking at the clouds pass by.

"Are you ok?" I ask cautiously. I don't want to be the first person to face the wrath of the usual calm, kind Melanie.

She lets out a sigh but then replies, "Yes, my past is just coming back to haunt me, that's all." It is killing me to find out what else happened, but l feel so sorry for her, l can't wiggle myself into her life before coming here, but I have so many unanswered questions it almost slips out every time l speak to her.

I join her with my arms on the balcony looking out into the sky. "You know, Hikaru didn't mean it. It's just his natural curiosity that comes out every other second of his life." I start. I could see her start to smile, but doesn't shift her view from the cloudless open.

"I know, that's why l like him. His habit of never thinking before he speaks isn't a flaw, it is something every human being has, he just hasn't mastered it yet. Besides, I find it kind of cute." She replies.

This utterly shocks me. Did she really just confess that she likes Hikaru? Wow, maybe l won't have to mess with him about it, and embarrass him to get him to confess. But she continues, "I know what you are thinking. Yes, l realize what this unnamed feeling inside of me is. I am not ashamed to admit it, but I know that whatever I do, I just can't let it grow."

She is laying bomb after bomb on me. So she likes Hikaru, but she says she can't allow herself to let it develop? Just wait for it to wither away? This makes me ask the question I was holding in for so long, "Why? "

A/N: Chapter five is over! Hope you liked it, and sorry for leaving you with a cliffy, but l just love suspense! Well, now that l am on the other side of it... Anyway, R&R please. Also I would like to thank Pretend It Was Just A Dream and DreamerChic1 for loyal reading. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it and I feel that every review you guys make is another step towards being a better writer. Love ya guys!


	6. Blossom

Why Me?

Chapter 6: Blossom

Melanie's Point of View

Tamaki covered his mouth the second he asked me. I smiled. I couldn't keep this a secret forever, let alone keep it from these rich idiots.

"My dad cheated on my mom, for the past couple years. He has another family in New York. That is where he always went for his 'business trips'. That isn't the worst part though. When he told my mom, he gave her the divorce papers and three plane tickets and just told her to leave. What nerve! He took my mom's hard earned money, bought her plane tickets and then kicked her out of her house!" I exclaim. That night when my mom was fighting with my 'dad' is all coming back to me. Tears start forming in my eyes. Tamaki stood there speechless. His mouth was forming words, but they never came out. His eyes kept getting bigger and bigger as the truth finally sunk in.

"That is how l found out. The night before the dinner, my mom was fighting with my dad over the phone, and it all came out. Ever since that moment, when l talk to a guy, I always have this horrible feeling come over me. I ask myself every five seconds 'Is he going to hurt me too?' You know I find myself doubting Liam sometimes! That is how bad it effected me! I can barely trust my own brother! I feel horrible about it, and was quite surprised how the feeling slowly went away when l met you guys, but at the same time..." I started to cry ever so softly, but now that I started l might as well finish telling the truth. "at the same time, l can't help it from coming back. I have completely given up on the idea of finding love one day. If it means saving me from the unfortunate heartbreak my mom had, l will do anything to not feel that pain, even if it means dying alone, and never having children to cherish! I won't even get another cat, because if it gets killed, there goes another part of my heart being ripped from me!"

Now the tears are really starting to flow. Tamaki is frozen as a statue and still staring at me. "I want to love, l really do, but I don't think that l will ever be able to." I finish. I close my eyes and try to stop the tears, but they keep coming. Next thing I know I am in the arms of Tamaki. It shocks me at first, but then l kind of embrace it.

"Not all men are like that you know," He whispers calmly. "and I think you even believe it a tiny bit too, you haven't pushed away from me yet."

I can feel his face in my hair and the damp net of tears he was shedding. "I don't think I will ever be able to feel the amount of pain you are feeling, but l have a beginning." He starts. Now it is my turn to be shocked. Is he saying that he is a victim of something too? "My mom is a french mistress to my father. They met in France during one of my dad's work trips, where they fell in love and had me." Tamaki continues, "My mom has a sickness that continually gets worse, and my grandmother manipulated my mom to get her heir to the Suoh empire. She made a deal with my mom that she would bail out her failing company and give her medical treatment, but she has to let me come here and never see me again. My mom hates herself for it, but l would have left if it means the slightest chance she can recover." Tamaki explains while looking at me. His eyes seemed to have changed to more of a stormy cloud color, but he has stopped crying.

I start to weigh our situations. He has an evil grandmother, a sick mom, and a hole in his heart to return home and visit her, where she could die any second. I have a cheating dad, a destroyed mom, and have had an important human emotion stolen from me. I actually feel that we are kind of even.

He is still staring at me, but then sighs and looks at the sky. "Hikaru will not be like your dad, I promise. He may have his flaws, but he would never let anyone get hurt especially not a close friend." Tamaki finishes. I want to believe him, but that part of me is saying no. That it will only end in heartbreak.

"Thanks Tamaki. I appreciate you trying to help me out, but some things just aren't meant to be." I say as l sit on the bench. I want to cry again, run away from my problems, get away from the voices that are confusing me and my emotions.

I am such a coward. Running away never solveed anything, and I for one know that already. Before l realize it, Tamaki is hugging me again, telling me to stop crying. He was trying to comfort me, but the question was just going through me head over and over again. Will I ever be able to love again?

Tamaki's Point Of View

"It's okay, Melanie, you can stop crying." I say as soothingly as l can. This girl has been holding all this pain inside of her, and because of her ass hole father, she has managed to lose the most important human emotion ever, (The feeling to love) she has put up a barrier, and is trying her hardest not to let anyone cross it. Poor Melanie. Poor _Hikaru_. His plans are going to have to take a step back, because it doesn't seem like she is going to budge on her decision to 'never love ever again'.

"I got it! How about to take your mind off of all this drama, we go to the beach!" I say cheerfully. She sits there for a second, thinking about something. "Is there something wrong with the beach?" I ask, a bit confused at her display.

She is contemplating again, but then shrugs it off and tries to give me a smile. "Umm, no. Nothings wrong with the beach!" She exclaims, trying to reassure me. If I have a wild guess why she doesn't want to go to the beach.

"Can you not swim?" I question.

She looks guilty like l broke down her barrier. " Well, no. I actually can't swim, but that isn't really the reason why I don't want to go to the beach." She starts, trying to hint something off. I immediately understand. I am not going to be the one to get in the middle of a girl and her girl problems.

"Don't worry! Daddy won't make you go to the beach!" I squeal with joy, but then immediately take back the 'daddy' part, as her face droops again. "Never mind that, how about we go to the board walk! Beautiful shops, delicious gelato, and fabulous clothes! Sounds like a girls dream!" I chirp.

"I was never one for clothes, but sounds fun!" She laughs with a smile on her face. That takes a load off my shoulders, as my precious Melanie is finally happy again.

"We leave after lunch." I proclaim.

**After Lunch**

"Is everyone ready?" I call through the house. Then seven faces appear out of no where, all lined up and ready to go. I recognize that Melanie brought her wallet instead of her usual plaid purse. Suspicious. She never goes anywhere without it. "Melanie, did you lose your purse?" I ask when we walk outside.

She releases a sigh, but then replies, "Yes, l lost it at the airport, but I took my wallet out before so it isn't a big deal."

"You lost your purse that you never leave your house without. I think that is a pretty big deal." I contemplate.

"Well, l am not a girly-girl, so l think l will live if l don't have it, the thing that worries me is that I use it every time I go shopping, since it is my biggest purse." she answers.

That gives me a great idea, and the enthusiasm must have leaked onto my face because without a moments hesitation, she said, "Don't even think about it Senpai. I may be a wreck right now, but l am more than capable, even in this state, to buy myself a new purse." I let the smile slip off, but l am still grinning underneath. I wasn't going to buy her a new purse, but l know who is.

I swing over to a certain red-head and his twin. "Hey Hikaru." I start as I slip over to his side. "You know, Melanie lost her purse at the airport." I say nonchalantly.

"What are you trying to say?" He hints at as he eyes me suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. Only being the ladies man l am, l may or may not be trying to hint to buy her a new purse." I answer, as I get into the car.

Hikaru was blowing off the suggestion, but then started contemplating it. Bingo! What a great friend l am. I better be a groomsmen at their wedding. Ooh, l wonder if Haruhi will be the maid of honor... Ok, l am thinking way to far into the future. We still have a couple years until that happens.

Once we get to the board walk, everyone pretty much splits up into groups after l say be back by four. The twins and Melanie formed a group, as did Kyoya, Haruhi and I, and then there's the obvious pairing of Hunny and Mori. I felt a little scared that Hikaru might say something stupid to upset Melanie, but l have confidence in Kaoru that he will stop him. Or at least I hope he will. Now I feel like an idiot.

Hikaru's Point Of View

"Lets go this way!" Says an excited Melanie. After this morning, l don't even see a speck of the angry serious girl that inhabited her. She looks happy and excited to run around.

After we eat gelato, we go window shopping. Melanie stops at ever window and admires everything in it, from jewelry to dresses to china. Then we get to a store where they had mannequins with dresses and matching purses underneath. Tamaki's words from earlier come rushing into my head. Did she really lose her purse?

"You like that one?" I ask as I see her looking at a brown one. She nods, but then replies that it is much too expensive. I may not be the most advanced mathematician out in the world, but l am pretty sure one euro is two dollars, one dollar is one hundred yen. So that means, one euro is two hundred yen. A 750 euro purse will ultimately be 150,000 yen.

"It's only 150,000 yen, that isn't that much." I reply. She gives me a stare, almost as if she expects me to take it back. "Let me pay for it, besides isn't your birthday this Tuesday?" I ask.

"Yea it is, but a 150,000 yen purse is too much to ask for. And also, how did you find out about my birthday?" She asks.

"First off, I am rich. When you are rich, nothing is too much to ask for. Second, I am rich. I can find out anything l want." I finish. "You got it Kaoru?" I ask my twin.

"You know it!" he exclaims, holding a shopping bag up behind Melanie. Her eyes grow wide in shock as we hand her the bag. Then to top it off, we both whisper into each ear, "Happy birthday sweetheart." Her face seemed like it would never stop getting red. I wish I could have taken a picture of it. One word: priceless. She mumbles thank you, and then walks ahead of Kaoru and I. It almost made me feel bad about it. Almost.

It seems Melanie got over it quite quickly because next thing you know, she is in front of another store saying , "Wow, look at this guys!" I find it absolutely amazing how fast she forgets things, almost like Haruhi. She is a lot like Haruhi, now that I think about it. Smart, forgetful, oblivious to her surroundings, but she isn't as honest when it comes to our feelings. Come to think of it, l fell in love with Haruhi too, didn't I? Haha, feels like forever ago since l learned that Haruhi loves Milord. Good times...

Melanie is staring at another display, when we finally catch up to her again. Dang that girl has some energy. "Doesn't this look familiar." Melanie inquires as she stares into the display. I wasn't looking at it at first, but then when I did, I realized it does.

Inside of the glass display case is a mannequin wearing a floor length dress, that is covered in gold sparkles. Underneath is a pair of matching low rise heels. The exact same outfit Melanie was wearing at the ball.

"Was that dress one of your mom's creations?" asks Melanie.

"No, actually this one was Kaoru's." I respond.

"And didn't it look perfect on you that night! I will accept my thank you for making your perfect dress now." He says as he taps his cheek. Melanie either didn't understand at first, or was wondering if she really should, but in the end, got up on her tip-toes and gave Kaoru a kiss on the cheek.

Time passed by very quickly. Before we knew it, it was already 3:40. "Melanie, l don't want to ruin your fun, but it is time to turn back around." I announce. She understood, and then turned right around.

When we get to the car, we see Tamaki carrying Haruhi in the distance. She almost looks like she is sleeping. When they reach the car, Tamaki explains that Haruhi stopped at every Italian pizzeria, diner, cafe, and restaurant there was. Now that he says that, Haruhi does look like she gained a little bit of weight. We have only been here for one day though. If she keeps eating like this, Hunny is going to be calling her Haru-chub instead of Haru-chan.

After we get back to the vacation house, Melanie insist on cooking dinner for us, to which everyone agrees except poor Haruhi, who looks like she is experiencing a hangover for the first time. Tamaki automatically asks to help, and Melanie accepts it with a giant smile. I don't know why Tamaki has developed this giant passion for cooking all of a sudden, but as long as it doesn't have to do with Melanie, l don't care.

After dinner passes, and we all have stuffed ourselves to the brim with food, we all go off to do our own stuff for the rest of the evening. Tamaki and Haruhi, who has managed to walk again, are taking a walk on the beach. Kyoya is busy making another life miserable by giving them the 'reason you suck speech' and then proceeds to buy their company. Hunny is eating more cakes, while Mori sits beside him, reading a novel. Kaoru is taking a nap. Melanie is nowhere to be found, so I am going on a mission to find her.

After a couple minutes of looking, I find Melanie on the second floor balcony, looking at the sunset. I go up and join her witness the spectacular sight. She looks my way to see who intruded on her while she was day dreaming, but then gives me her dimpled smile when she finds out it is me. Then a thought pops into my head.

"You know Melanie, l bought you a purse and l never got a kiss on the cheek." I say as I tap my cheek. She hesitates at first but then once again gets on her tip-toes and kisses my cheek.

When l look down at her, she has a radiant smile on her face. What I would give to see that smile everyday. Wake up to find it laying next to me every morning. It fills me with endless delight and an almost unsustainable need to go up and kiss her. Hopefully if we have children, they will inherit those dimples. The thought fills me with ecstasy, which Melanie sees.

"Are you okay, Senpai ?" She asks cautiously. I snap out of my dream world and nod in her direction. I am thinking way to far into the future. I have to at least wait until I am out of high school before I even _think_ of fathering a child. Besides, with her smarts, Melanie will make an excellent doctor or lawyer, or really anything that ends in -ologist. Her only rival for top spot is Haruhi, but she gladly backs off on finals so Haruhi can stay at Ouran. Having a child at this age can ruin everything for her, and l am not going to be the one that kills her bright future.

Melanie is still looking at the sunset when I realize she is starting to cry.

"Melanie, what is wrong?!" I ask alarmed. I don't remember ever seeing her cry face to face. She wipes the single tear away from her face, and then puts on a weak smile and says

"Nothing! l ...umm... got something in my eye! Eyes do that to get unwanted substances out! Yea, just something in my eye, don't worry about me!" She is trying so hard to make it sound convincing, but you can hear how broken up she is. Whatever she was thinking about just now must have been something horrible. But, she wasn't crying before it, so was it maybe me that triggered it? The thought horrifies me, but there is no way l will let her go through _anything _alone. Before l know it, l am hugging her in a tight embrace. She doesn't react for a moment before realizing her face is in my chest.

"Melanie, you don't have to go through whatever it is alone. Please, tell me what is happening. _Trust me_."

She stays there, still as can be, until she suddenly pushes away from me and runs down the hall to the room, leaving one of her flats in the hallway. She is trying to lock herself in a box, where it is dark, lonesome, and she can't get anywhere. I am trying to be her prince and put her slipper back on, but it is almost like she doesn't want it back. She is rejecting my help, all of our help. But I know I will stop at nothing until she accepts it. The dark secret she is hiding, why is she trying to hold it on her shoulders all by herself? I am right here to carry it with her. What am l doing that she can't trust me to comfort her, to console her? Is she acting like this with everybody, or just me?

Melanie's Point Of View

I can't believe I just pushed away from Hikaru while he was trying to comfort me! Melanie you idiot! He was trying to _help _you and you rejected him! How am I supposed to explain anything to him now! All he asked was for you to trust him! I can't even manage that! All because that damn bastard ruined this for me! I feel ashamed. How am l supposed to go through in life if l don't have that emotion? Almost everything involves it. You need to _love _your job. _Love_ your husband. _Love_ your kids. Love is weaved in everything! But ever since l found out, there has been no doubt in my mind that I will never be able to do anything in life.

I cried myself to sleep that night, in my closet. I didn't even notice when I was picked up and brought to bed. The dream l had that night actually wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare. A nightmare that never seemed to end. I was so thankful that Hikaru and Kaoru woke me up right before l had to hear the dreaded words my mom said to my dad, that night of their fight again. I was apparently crying and screaming in my sleep. So for the next couple hours they stayed with me, hugging me and comforting me until I finally fell asleep again.

**A/N:** And that is the end of chapter six! Hope you liked it! I would like to thank AMTdftba for proofreading! You da best! I am gonna start on chapter seven right now! And in the words of AMTdftba, don't forget to be awesome!


	7. I Thought We Were Going To Venice?

Why Me?

Chapter 7: I Thought We Were Going To Venice?

Melanie's Point Of View

I don't recall a single thing from last night. The last thing l do remember is that l was watching the sunset on the balcony right after dinner ended. When l go downstairs, the host club is once again, sleeping on the table, even Kyoya, who has managed to get downstairs before breakfast starts. I am the only one who is actually awake and ready to tackle the day. "Hey, wake up guys." I say as l go to the closest person, who happens to be Tamaki, and shake their head. He stirs, but doesn't lift his head. I then do the same to the twins and Haruhi, but don't dare to do it to Hunny. I just ignore them for a second before a thought pops into my head. "Oh well, since none of you guys are going to wake up, that just means more bacon for me." I say nonchalantly.

That gets everyone's attention. Tamaki jumped out of his chair, and bolted through the kitchen door, staright to the fridge. Hunny starts to salivate on his Usa-chan, while Mori is scolding him over it. Kyoya doesn't really seem to know what is happening, he just got surprised when every one else got excited. Haruhi was sitting patiently, waiting for the food. The twins had evil grins spread across their faces. No words are coming out of their mouths, yet they seem to be communicating. Creepy.

When l head back into the kitchen, Tamaki already has the bacon and eggs out, so l get the pans and some butter. "Well, that really seemed to get everyone's attention." I say as l start whipping the eggs.

"Well, along with commoners ramen and commoner coffee, we love bacon!" Says a smiling Tamaki. It surprises me how a rich person likes to cook so much. "Are you ok, Melanie?" Tamaki asks me all of a sudden. The question startles me, but l find no reason not to answer.

"Yes, l am fine. Why would you ask?" I ask him.

Tamaki looks a little uncomfortable, but answers anyway. "Last night, the twins woke me up at four in the morning. They said you were crying in your sleep, and then started talking. The twins thought that after five minutes of silence that you were fine again, but then you screamed as if something attacked you. I didn't hear it, but they say you did." He says. That triggered all my lost memories of last night to come and attack me. I was crying, talking, screaming. My nightmare plunged me into hell.

I remember the twins hugging me, telling me that everything is alright. I remember looking at an alarm clock that read 3:45. It is all true. I stutter before l answer Tamaki. "Yes, l did. I had a horrible nightmare last night. It was replaying my parents fight and l was relieved when Hikaru and Kaoru woke me up right before the worst part." I respond.

I was still cooking the food, but Tamaki froze for a second. Almost as if he was thinking about something. "What are you thinking about Tamaki?" I ask, genuinely curious.

His grim face turned back into a charming smile, before he answered me. "Nothing." He says while removing the eggs from the stove and putting them in a bowl. I finish making the meal in silence.

"Breakfast is ready!" I announce happily as l bring the bacon to the table with Tamaki behind me. The looks on the host club faces as they devour the bacon shows pure delight. No one spoke for the first couple minutes as the bacon was taken, one slice at a time.

"Everyone, l have finished the plans for today!" Tamaki says as he finishes his meal. Everyone looks up expectantly at the host club king. "We are going to Venice!" Tamaki proclaims. I am filled with joy at the sound of Venice. It may have been a long time ago, but we went to Venice once when l was five. I remember how fun it was walking in St. Marks Square and seeing all the architecture. Those were some of the times l really miss having with my family.

"Sounds fun!" Haruhi exclaims. They twins were bouncing up and down in their chairs. Everyone was excited to go, but l was sitting there still as a rock.

"I am going to go get ready." I say as l start my retreat.

"But, your already dressed and everything." Hunny points out.

"No, l got something else to do too." I say before l go up the stairs into my room.

I sit thinking in the armchair in my room. I have gotten better at holding back tears, but I still want to be by myself in case they do slip out. All I can think is that I need to get over this. I won't ever see my dad again, it may take a little while but l am sure l will get over this soon enough. If I try, I can learn to trust people again, l just need to put effort in it. But the thought of going to Venice hurts my head and makes my stomach churn. I really don't want to go, and l know what to do to get out of going too.

Hikaru's Point Of View

The host club is starting to get suspicious of Melanie. "I am pretty sure Mel-chan was finished." says Hunny, who is trying to piece together why she is is acting strange. I am thinking. Was it something that Tamaki said that caused Melanie to leave? Hunny is right, Melanie was finished dressing and her hair was brushed. It must have been Venice that brought that effect on her.

A half hour later, Kaoru and l were in the bedroom when Tamaki called everyone down to get into the car. After five minutes he came upstairs to come get us since we didn't come. We didn't come down for good reason too. Melanie was sick. When we got here she had just flushed the toilet and was about to start brushing her teeth. So, when Tamaki came in and saw Melanie lying in bed, he told her not to worry and that he would call the doctor. Melanie told him that there is no need, it was probably just food poisoning, and to go on without her. Tamaki was reluctant, but it seemed like Melanie was silently telling him something. In the end, l agreed to stay here with Melanie while everyone else went. I didn't want her to stay at home by herself when she was sick.

After l waved goodbye to the host club, l went back inside and upstairs to Melanie's side. "Your not really sick, are you?" I ask.

She looks guilty, but then sits up. "No, I'm not." She admits.

"Then why fake it? Just out of curiosity, but I am really proud of you for doing something bad!" I exclaim. Her face looks like a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Well, when I was little, my entire family went to Venice for a family vacation. It was so fun, and well with recent events, I just can't go. It reminds me of how great my life was then and how screwed up it is right now." She replies. I won't lie. That kind of hurt. Even now that she knows the host club, she still feels bad about everything that happened. I try my hardest to not think about it.

"So, what do you want to do?" I ask. She thinks for a second.

"Do you like horror movies?" She asks me. I was caught off guard with the question. I never would have thought that Melanie likes horror movies. "Love 'em." I reply. A grin spreads across her face.

"Then this is going to be a lot of fun." She exclaims.

"Are you sure you want to watch this?" I ask while holding up Paranormal Activity.

She comes out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and replies, "Yeah, I've never seen it before." I nod and pop the movie in. We both close all the curtains, grab a coke, and then sit on the couch. I was hoping that I can get away with one of those cheesy pick-ups like putting my arm around the scared girl, but Melanie was laughing the entire time. I can understand why though. If you are being dragged downstairs, I would think that you move out of the house.

When the movie ends, l hear Melanie's stomach growling. I chuckle. "Hungry?" I ask. She nods.

"How about we see what's in the fridge then?" I ask as I get up. She follows and soon we come out with sandwiches, bags of chips, and some bottles of water. Not the most romantic lunch, but very satisfying.

After we finish, we open up all the curtains and see the sunshine in through the windows. This sparks and idea in my mind. "Melanie, want to go for on a walk on the beach?" I say, pointing to the vast open ocean outside the door. She smiles and then agrees.

As we go outside, we walk in silence for a few moments before Melanie speaks. "What a nice day." She says looking at the sky reflect off the ocean.

"Yea, it is kinda pretty." I admit. I chuckle to myself. What if l would have said, 'But not as pretty as you'. It sounds so cliché. "So, what do you like so much about horror movies?" I ask trying to get a conversation started and pass an awkward moment.

"They're really funny! It is like the directors tell them to lose their common sense and logic before they start shooting." She exclaims.

I laugh. "Don't forget how after they get abused, they stay in the house anyway." I say.

She smiles. "How can l? It is in every movie! What type of masochists are these actors ?" She replies. Never thought I would ever hear her say something like that, but at the same time l have to remember she is an honest girl.

"I don't know, but they are pretty creepy!" I respond as I start laughing again.

"Well Melanie, you seem like a shadow of the person you were this morning." I say once we stop laughing.

"Hanging out with you is so much fun! It is hard not to be happy!" She exclaims. I start to blush. She enjoys my company, one step closer to my goal! "I wonder how the guys are doing." I wonder out loud.

"Hopefully having fun." She says as she starts to speed up. I see her lift her hand to her face, then put it right back down again. I hope she isn't crying again.

"Are you ok?" I ask. She turns around and gives me a weak smile.

"Yea, l am perfectly fine!" She replies. The cloudy look in her usually bright brown eyes doesn't tell the same story though. Next thing l know, l am hugging her again. We stay like that for a while, not paying attention to the glares we are getting from bystanders. I slowly start to lift her face up and look her in the eyes. I can feel her face start to heat up as l go in. Too bad I was interrupted by the sound of doors slamming.

Melanie snapped out of her trance and took my hand as she ran to the house. It only took us a minute to get there since we didn't really walk to much. By the time we got inside, Melanie rushed upstairs, while I went to the fridge and got out some water. When l finally heard the front door open, Tamaki came rushing in and up to me. "I can't believe l left you alone with my daughter for three hours! What was l thinking! What did you do to her you pervert!" He screamed at me, panicking. That was Tamaki for you, over-reacting to the slightest thing.

"Relax boss, she is upstairs. I didn't do anything. You can even get her to take a pregnancy test if you don't believe me. Besides, three hours isn't enough time to do anything." I say, earning a snicker from my twin. He stares for a moment before rushing upstairs to check on Melanie. You can hear him scream "Melanie, you're alive!" after a few seconds.

Kaoru comes up to me and looks at me before asking, "Are you sure you did_ nothing_?" I stare. Something tells me that the host club never left within a mile of the house, the entire three hours. I nod anyway. Kaoru pats my back and whispers, "Nice try." Wow, I made the mistake of thinking these idiots weren't watching me.

"Is that why Tamaki came in here like that?" I ask him. Kaoru nods. He takes me to the living room and tells me what he and Tamaki did while Kyoya, Hunny, and Mori were in Venice.

Kaoru's Point Of View, Before Everyone Left For Venice

"Boss, I want to spy on Hikaru!" I whine before we enter the car.

Tamaki quickly turns around and whispers, "You and me both, so be quiet. I have a plan." I can feel that Tamaki and I are about to have an interesting couple of hours. Once the car is moving, Tamaki orders the driver to turn around and go back to the house to drop us off.

When we get back, Hunny tells us 'not to see too much' before giving us a wink. Wow, I never thought that Hunny could have such an... interesting mind.

We quickly make our way to the front door and Tamaki listens for any sound. When he tells me it is quiet, we quickly slip through the door and creep up the stairs. Then we hear conversation coming from my bedroom and tip-toe to the door way.

"Then why fake it? Just out of curiosity, but I am really proud of you for doing something bad!" I hear Hikaru exclaim. Of course he would think that.

"Well, when I was little, my entire family went to Venice for a family vacation. It was so fun, and well, with recent events, I just can't go. It reminds me of how great my life was then and how screwed up it is right now." I hear Melanie respond.

The shock on my face was clear as day. Tamaki had the same look too, but he put a finger to his lips to signal that I should stay quiet.

"So, what do you want to do?" I hear Hikaru ask Melanie.

"Do you like horror movies?" She asks Hikaru. Of course he does, he's a guy!

"Love 'em." I hear Hikaru reply.

"Then this is going to be a lot of fun." She says with a slight mischievous tone in her voice. Oh no. The way she said that kind of scares me. Hikaru must be burning up right now. When we hear springs, Tamaki and I make a break for the hall way bathroom, where we stay until we see Hikaru and Melanie go down the stairs.

As soon as Melanie goes back into the living room we tip toe down the stairs. "Are you sure you want to watch this?" I hear Hikaru ask. Well, she suggested it, I would think she is sure.

"Yeah, l've never seen it before." Melanie replies. When they close the curtains, that is when Tamaki starts to freak out.

"Kaoru! I swear if your twin even thinks about touching my daughter, I will personally kill him in front of you!" He whispers panicky.

I roll my eyes before responding, "Calm down, and stop calling her your daughter. She doesn't even look like you! The only things you two have in common is your pure heart, height, and she is part French, which no one would know if you two didn't have that conversation a month ago." Tamaki looks like he is about to blow, before he breathes a heavy sigh and looks back to the screen.

Through out the entire movie, Melanie and Hikaru were laughing, while Tamaki was whimpering and holding on to me. For the host club king, he sure is immature.

Before it ends Tamaki managed to calm down, but then it says they never found the remains of the girl and he freaks out. I had to cover his mouth before he blew our cover. Thankfully, l manage to calm him down again, but then we hear a weird sound coming from the living room, he blew for the fifth time today.

"If that was a moan, I will slit his throat!" He hisses.

"Hungry?" Hikaru asks.

After he hears that, Tamaki almost faints, and Hikaru escapes another merciless death.

"How about we see what's in the fridge then?" He continues and then stands up. "Come on!" I whisper as l tug at Tamaki's shirt and pull him up the stairs. Thankfully, it only took them five minutes to get out some sandwiches, two bags of chips, and some water.

Tamaki gets nervous every time they are out of eye-sight for more than a second. I recognize l am hungry too after seeing them eating. I signal Tamaki by rubbing my belly and pretending to chew. He understands and then slithers to the pantry. He comes out with some food for us too, much to my appreciation.

While we are crunching on our chips, we see Melanie start to open the curtains. Tamaki almost ran over to the window to bask in the light. When Hikaru appears by Melanie and asks her if she wants to go on a walk down the beach, Tamaki lets an evil smile spread across his face. I am genuinly scared. When the pure-hearted and kind Tamaki starts smiling like that, you _know _something bad is going to happen if Hikaru tries something.

We find some hats lying around the house and some Italian news print and go outside, stalking them from behind our clever disguises. It wasn't anything interesting, only talking and laughing. But when Hikaru hugged her, we started paying attention. We were interrupted for a second when Tamaki's cell phone buzzed and read the message that said that the remaining three members of the host club will be there in three minutes. I watched in anticipation while Tamaki was coming up with new ways to kill somebody, and started considering buying a book on medieval torture.

Slowly Hikaru lifted up her chin and looked in her eyes, while Tamaki started cursing under his breath.

"Shut up Tamaki!" I exclaim, not moving my head from the scene.

"That is my daughters first kiss! What do you think I am going to do?!" He answers.

I was shocked, I barely managed to stutter out, "First kiss?!"

Tamaki nodded, before saying, "Your twin is about to take a precious moment in my daughters life!" Their faces got closer and then... we heard a car door slam. We put our newspapers up, hoping that they won't notice they are upside down.

When we hear the back door shut, we jump the fence and find an eager Hunny asking questions a mile a minute, "What happened? Is Hika-chan still alive? Why is Tamaki so red? Kaoru, did you do something?" Tamaki ran into the house, while l laughed to myself.

"Well, let's just say that Tamaki almost committed first degree murder a grand total of 5,920 times today." I reply. Hunny instantly understood and just smiled.

"Our little Mel-chan, growing up so fast." He says as he walks up the drive way into the house.

When we get inside, Tamaki is putting up quite a show. "I can't believe l left you alone with my daughter for three hours! What was l thinking! What did you do to her you pervert!" He screamed at Hikaru. Tamaki is a very talented actor, he is yelling like he never saw anything. Either that or he is still mad that he almost took Melanie's first kiss.

"Relax boss, she is upstairs. I didn't do anything. You can even get her to take a pregnancy test if you don't believe me. Besides, three hours isn't enough time to do anything." He says. I snicker at the comment. Tamaki immediately runs upstairs and you can soon hear him scream "Melanie, you're alive!".

I go up to my twin and stare for a second, "Are you sure you did _nothing_?" I ask. I was ready to tease him to no end. But I will wait until Tamaki is done with him first. He nods, but then l pat his back and whisper, "Nice try."

He shakes his head before asking, "Is that why Tamaki came in here like that?" I nod. Then take him into the living room and tell him all about the fun Tamaki and I had while Hunny, Mori, and Kyoya were in Venice.

Our last couple days in Italy soon dwindle down to the afternoon of our departure. We hop on an airplane start to share the great memories we had there. Every time someone looked over to Melanie sleeping with her head on Hikaru's shoulder, they would bring up our favorite story. But each time it get funnier, as Tamaki gets madder and madder when they start to bring up the 'Kiss' part. I learned about ten new ways to kill someone using only your thumb. This will definitely be a vacation to remember.

_**A:N**__**:**_ And another chapter done! Hope you liked it, and once again l would like to thank AMTdftba for proofreading! I will get started on chapter eight right away. Expect more drama! I _love _drama! If you are reading this story, l expect that you like drama too. Anyway, chapter eight coming soon!


	8. I Learn New Stuff About Myself Everyday!

Why Me?

Chapter 8: I Learn New Stuff About Myself Everyday!

Melanie's Point Of View

"Wake up!" Liam yells as he shakes me violently. I, in return, fall out of bed in shock. " It took you long enough. School starts again today!" He says as he leaves the room. I didn't register it, but when l went into the kitchen to get coffee, I look at the calender and do indeed see that today is Monday. I groan. I didn't want to go to school. Not after the vacation I just had. I quickly drink the rest of my coffee, take a shower, and manage to finish all my other morning necessities before I am late to get out the door.

When I do get out, I see Liam already halfway down the street, talking to Haruhi. " Liam, wait up!" I yell. He turns around for a second and then signals for me to start running, which I do. I am very athletic, it didn't take much to blast myself down the street. What did take effort, is doing it in a dress. As l catch up I see Liam smile at something Haruhi said. Very suspicious coming from the guy who only smiles when he is truly happy. Wait... he only smiles when he is truly happy. That means he is happy with Haruhi! Liam has a crush on Haruhi! I let a smile show on my face, but quickly take it off before he sees.

When we finally arrive at school, l am sitting down in my usual seat in homeroom when I notice something unusual. Everyone is reading a newspaper, rather than gossiping. I am getting some evil glares thrown at me by a group of girls in the corner. " Hey Melanie, Haruhi." Hikaru and Kaoru say as they enter homeroom. I wave to them, but don't direct my attention away from the girls in the corner. " Do you guys notice anything different about the atmosphere today?" asks Hikaru. I nod. It is different. Just then we see Tamaki, Kyoya, Mori, and Hunny come rush through the door. They say something urgently to sensei before coming to the back of the room. " All four of you get up and get to the club room _now_!" Tamaki yells at us. I follow orders and automatically get through the door with Haruhi and the twins right on my tail.

When we make it to the club room, Tamaki is freaking out, while Kyoya automatically writes down something on his infamous notepad. Hunny throws a newspaper at us. I catch it and my eyes get huge while l read the first article.

**Fight Over Girl Lead To The Downfall Of The Brotherly Love Kings!**

_We all know the Hitachiin twins, and how they are a main attraction at the host club, but sources tell us that both of the brothers have an eye out for the new girl, Melanie Smallwood. For over a month, she has been spending time alone with each of the twins, from picking up a dress, to going on vacation with them! Although our sources say that she is currently dating Hikaru, she has been photographed numerous amounts of times with Kaoru! That is not the worst part either, we have had reports come in that the twins had a fight over her too! Why is she breaking up such a strong bond? How is she breaking up their bond? How cold must your heart be to try and break up a family?_

I didn't even finish reading it before my attention was taken by the photos of me and the twins. Ones in Italy, and across the street from the clothing shop. They also had one of me and Kaoru at the restaurant. Shock spreads across my face. This is great, I have only been here for a month and a half and now I am the talk of the school. Hikaru snatches the paper from my hands and reads it for himself. After he finishes, his face turns as red as his hair. Kaoru sees his reaction and then reads the paper himself. His face drains of color and he throws the paper on the table. " How the hell are people actually believing this?!" Asks an angry Hikaru.

" Well, they did have photos, which by the way can't we sue them over that? It is invasion of privacy." Said Kaoru. He was significantly calmer than Hikaru, but still seemed to be peeved by the article. "Last time I checked you could." Kyoya answered. He looked very stressed, and had his face in his hands. Tamaki was opposite of him doing the same thing. " You didn't read the other story, did you?" Tamaki said through his hands. I pick up the newspaper and then the twins get on each side of me as they read the article too.

**Haruhi, What Are You Really****?**

_Have you seen Haruhi, from the host club, lately? He is looks different, don't you think? A bit taller, and seems to be fed better than when he first came here, he is a commoner after all. But, with those big brown eyes, slender frame, attraction to cute things, and lack of height, we have suspected something is different about him. Especially when he didn't take the regular physical exam. He didn't show off like the rest of the guys. Now we have finally pieced together the clues, he is definitely a girl. Yes, a sugar, spice, and everything nice, girl. That's not all though. We have a strange suspicion she is also pregnant. She is much bigger around the belly lately. Now, if she is pregnant, there must also be a father right? She spends so much time with the hosts, chances are one of them is the father. We have ruled out Mori and Hunny, since they never spend time away from each other. We have also ruled out the twins, since they only have eyes out for Melanie. So that only leaves Kyoya and Tamaki. We all know Tamaki is a half-french ladies man, but Kyoya is also manipulative, he could have easily tricked Haruhi into something. How can such smart young men be stupid enough to mess around with a commoner? We, the newspaper club, are dedicated to finding out the truth, no matter what it takes._

My mouth drops open in surprise. That was harsh. If the twins were mad before, they didn't bother to show how mad they truly were. Now, they had the look of murder in their eyes. "Before you even think of doing anything rash, stop and sit on the couch." Kyoya said, finally looking up from his hands. He had the exact same look as the twins, except it seemed more venomous and he seemed to have a dark shadow revolve around him. " What are we going to do? If this gets to my dad, he is going to burst! And worse, if he doesn't believe me that I didn't do it, he is going to do a lot worse than just disowning me, he is going to take away my diamond studded kotatsu! Then my dream will never be complete!" Tamaki cried.

Kyoya lost his glow and then rolled his eyes for a moment before barking out orders. " Kaoru, Tamaki, Hunny, Mori, Haruhi, follow me to headmaster Suou's office. We are not going to let them get away with this!"

"What about me? I want in on the action too!" Hikaru complained. Kyoya gave him the death glare before replying, "Unlike Kaoru, who can control himself, you will probably kill the first member of the newspaper club you see." Hikaru look liked he was about to testify against that, but one glare from everyone in the room shut him up.

When the host club left, I was sitting there, thinking. I couldn't believe I got caught up in all this! I told myself to be more careful and I ignored myself. After a couple minutes, when Hikaru put the paper back on the table after reading it a second time, I started to speak again. " This is all my fault." Hikaru stares at me blankly. " If I was just a little bit more careful, this wouldn't have happened. You can't have my name tearing up your image. Not because of this giant mess that I caused." I couldn't help when my voice got a little higher on that last sentence.

Hikaru shook his head before answering. " This is not your fault Melanie, even if it was, Kaoru and I were in some of those pictures too. It is not like you forced us into them." I stared at him this time. That is true. I put my face into my hand. I was stressed out by this, I wanted to have something happen that will turn my life around. Everything was quiet, so different than what it was five minutes ago. It was so quiet that I caught every word that Hikaru said perfectly. " Well, now that I think about it, why don't we make one of these rumors true?" I snapped my head up and next thing I know, Hikaru's lips are smashed against mine. I enjoyed it, but at the same time my mind told me to reject it, not to like the kiss. Then another thing popped into my head. This is my_first kiss_. Not how I expected the moment to go, but I couldn't help trying to pull as much happiness as I could from it. I let myself sink into his embrace, fall deeper into this feeling I was trying to avoid, and let myself believe, that for one moment that I may be able to love again.

When I felt like my lungs were about to burst from lack of oxygen, we parted. Hikaru was smiling, almost like he felt proud of himself. My face was probably red, but I let a quick smile escape my lips. "So, how did I do for your first kiss?" He asked, he still had his grin spread across his face while my eyes went large. " How do you know that?" I ask suspiciously. He put on his most innocent look and said, " Does it really matter how I know?" I looked at him. I was a tiny bit unhappy that he somehow dug his way into my personal life and managed to get that information. I sighed before answering, " Well, since it was my first kiss, I don't really have anything to judge with." He let a mischievous smile on his face that only grew larger in size as he came closer to me. "So, you don't have anything to compare with? I can change that you know." He whispered into my ear. I felt my face heat up, but that was Hikaru. Making me feel uncomfortable, but somehow sweet on the inside. I was the idiot that turned around though. The second I turned to my right, there was his face again, his eyes burning for more. Bad news for him though, more was something I couldn't deliver. "Anyway, yea. I got nothing to compare with." I said as I got up and picked up the newspaper. I led it to the trash can with Hikaru sitting at the table, he had a disappointed look on his face. Did a girl never reject him? What I just did must have been a huge wake-up call then. Nevertheless, when l sat down on the couch he followed me.

I laid down, while he joined me on the other end. He propped my feet up on his thighs. I started to get oddly suspicious. He wasn't going to give up. "It isn't even lunch time and l felt like an entire day already passed by. I feel exhausted." I say. He smirks, I don't know why, but something tells me I don't want to know. " It could have been worse though." I add. His eyes get big in surprise before returning to normal size and scooting closer. " Oh really?" He purrs. I did not have a good feeling about this, but my body didn't allow me to move an inch. I nod. He scoots even closer, now my knees are on his thighs. "Well, I have been through worse situations." I say. Every word I say causes him to slowly creep closer. I knew Hikaru wasn't very good at controlling his emotions, but once he gets started, he won't stop. "Really? I doubt it could have been that bad." He asked, genuinely curious. I haven't really, I just said that out of habit. He scooted closer again. This time I was almost laying in his lap. I dug my head in the pillow as he got closer. I wasn't ready. The last one caught me by surprise, but this time I know he likes me enough to kiss me.

When he was two inches away from my face he asked me something to catch me off guard, again. " You know, you never answered my question from earlier." I was puzzled. " I asked if you wanted to make the rumors true." He said. The scene flew back into my mind. He _did _ask me that. I stuttered. He quickly got impatient flicking his eyes from mine to my lips repeatedly. " Well, allow me to help you speed up your decision." He says before once again, smashing his lips against mine. I didn't have time to stop him, and I quickly realize that I have had my first and second kiss in the same ten minutes. I couldn't help it, I wanted it to go on forever, no matter what the voice in my head told me. Before I knew it, he managed to get on top of me. I started to panic, and the voice started to nag me about how I should have listened to it. After he finally separated from me, I was shaking my head. Half of me wanted this, but the other half rejected it, told me to slap him and run away. I needed to get away from him, someplace where his scent can't mess with my head. But how was I going to get him off of me? He was stronger and taller than me. This was not going to be an easy task, but I thought of something. " Wait Hikaru. I- I need to use the restroom." I say quietly. He looked confused, but then quickly got off of me. He looked like he understood that I needed space.

When I finally got out of the room, I saw the host club twenty feet away from me. I immediately turned the corner away from them, but they already saw me. " Hey Melanie! We won! They are expelled and we get to burn the newspapers in victory!" I hear Tamaki call down the hall, but by the time they turned the corner, I was already in the bathroom.

Hikaru's Point Of View

"Wow, I feel like crap right now." I say as I lay on the couch, right where Melanie was. I let my feelings get carried away and forced Melanie into an uncomfortable situation. When she was looking at me, something told me she didn't need to use the restroom. I was rushing things, and she wasn't ready. She wanted to get away. Next thing l know, the host club bursts through the room. Everyone looks alerted, especially Tamaki. "Hikaru, you wouldn't happen to know why Melanie just ran down the hall?" He asked suspiciously. I didn't answer, just ignored him and hoped he would go away. He came into the area with the sofas in it and sat down on the opposite end of my sofa, much to my discomfort.

Something tells me Tamaki is about to interview me on everything that happened while they were gone. "So, you are trying to say nothing happened?" He asks with one eyebrow up in suspicion. I nod, right now I want to think, but Tamaki is stopping that from happening. He takes his finger and taps his lips. I touch mine and realize the have something shiny on them. Lip gloss. I quickly wipe it off on my sleeve, but that damn Tamaki is a hell of a lot smarter than he lets on.

When I look back up, Tamaki is smiling. " So, you did _nothing, _huh?" He asks with a mischievous grin on his face. I shook my head, let my guard down for five seconds and now I am going to have to pay for it. "I can't wait until I tell Liam that his little sister had her first kiss taken by a certain red-headed twin!" Tamaki starts singing. My eyes get big. At first glance you would not have thought that Liam and Melanie are siblings, Melanie is a bit skinny, but Liam has muscles as big as my head. I don't want to be the one to get him upset. "Don't do that Tamaki!" I say before I could stop myself. He put on his most innocent face and says, " But it is her big brother Hikaru! Doesn't he have a right to know about his sisters life? Especially when her lips touched another's..." He is taking his revenge for all those times I messed with Haruhi, I always threatened to tell Ranka about Haruhi's first kiss.

"So, what did she do that made you kiss her?" Tamaki asks after a second. With Tamaki's threat lingering over my head, I decide against ignoring him. " Well, we were sitting at the table, words were exchanged, then I kissed her. The end." I say. Tamaki rolls his eyes, before saying "There has to be more to the story than that." I take a deep breath and release it. I didn't exactly want to take that private moment and spill it out to, of all people, Tamaki. "So you want me to quote the last couple seconds?" I ask. He nods and I speak again. " Well, she had her face in her palms and she kept saying that it was all her fault. I told her that it wasn't her fault and that even if it was, Kaoru and I were in some of those pictures too. It wasn't like she forced us into them. Then when she put her head back into her palms, I said 'Well,now that I think about it, why don't we make one of these rumors true? Then when she lifted her head up, l kissed her." I purposely left out everything that happened on the couch, Tamaki would start a whole new conversation that I want to avoid at all costs. Tamaki looked surprised before answering, " So, it was a complete surprise?" I nod. A grin spreads across his face before he replies, " That is becoming quite common in the host club, first Haruhi, now Melanie. Nice one." I laugh. I never get this feeling when talking to Tamaki, only that one time at the ball. "So, did she say yes?" He asked. I sigh again. " She didn't say anything." I admit.

Tamaki doesn't look surprised like I thought he would. Instead he mumbles, "She really is scarred that much." My ears perk up, what does he mean by that? " Tamaki, what do you mean 'She really is scarred that much'?" I ask. He shakes his head. "That is none of my business to tell you, Melanie will tell you when the time is right." He tells me. "Why do you know then?" I ask suspiciously. He smiles, reminiscing a memory, then gets up and walks to the door before he answers. "Well, that is for me to know, and for you to never find out." I ignore that. "I need to find out! I like that girl a lot. How am I supposed to do anything to help her if I don't know what the problem is?" I say. I was starting to get angry at Tamaki for knowing and not telling me. " How bad do you want to find out?" Tamaki asks me before leaving the room. I start to feel desperate. " I will do anything." I admit.

He turns around and stands there, leaning on the door frame. " Before she moved here, her dad was cheating on her mom with the daughter of a wealthy CEO. Her mom was, scratch that, is so heartbroken, sometimes she just stares in a corner for hours crying about it. Melanie is affected by it too, she can't trust men anymore. She can't bring herself to love you. She wants to but as a result of trauma, is doubting her choices. When I talked to her, she admitted that she can't even trust Liam sometimes. Imagine trying to live without love, then you can try to put yourself into her shoes." Tamaki says.

I was sitting, frozen by shock. That is why she was so uncomfortable when I was sitting on the couch with her. She was wondering if I was going to hurt her like her dad did to her mom. She was trying to avoid heartbreak, no one could blame her though. The thought of my dad doing that to my mom sends hatred through my veins. When I look back at the door frame, Tamaki is gone. He left so I can think. I am not like her dad, cheating is not something a real man would do. I know I will do whatever it takes for her to change her mind, see that not everyone is like that, but something tells me that it is going to be more difficult than I imagine. That doesn't matter though, if I want her to go back on her decision I will do anything, no matter how immature, stupid, or illegal it may get.


	9. Life Is A Never Ending Roller Coaster

Why Me?

Chapter 9: Life Is A Never Ending Roller Coaster

Tamaki's Point Of View

"Liam, why are you so gloomy?" I ask, genuinely curious why my senior is so unhappy this early in the morning. He stared at me with an annoyed look in his eyes. " Why are you in my homeroom? This is third years class Tamaki. Last time I checked you were a second." He asked. I wasn't about to give up that easily though, of course I had a reason for being here. " I am here to give something to Hunny and Mori, but it seems they haven't arrived yet." I answer. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "There is no reason for you to know Tamaki." He says.

"I am going to eventually find out though, so wouldn't it be wise to just tell me now?" I say as innocently as possible. He gives me the death glare before he stares out the window. "Since you won't tell me, maybe I will just have to ask Melanie what happened to put you in such a bad mood." I say as I turn around to head out the door. His eyes pop out at the and he grabs my arm to stop me. "No! Don't ask Melanie or she will go on an entire rant about it. You will never hear the end of it!" He says. I can feel my eyes grow big in surprise. This must be pretty big if Liam stops me from asking Melanie. I turn around and wait for him to answer my question.

He sighs in defeat before answering. "My parents are getting back together. The divorce paper work wasn't filed yet and my mom somehow magically forgave my dad when he asked her yesterday over the phone. Melanie and I are pissed off beyond belief. We can not just forget what dad has done! My mom says we can at least wait until the school year finishes, but that is in two weeks!"

I don't know what to feel right now. I am angry, confused, sad, happy, so many emotions at the same time. I first think of my daughter leaving me after only two months of attending Ouran, then I think of how crushed Hikaru is going to be. Melanie may get to see her sisters after such a long time, but will she miss us too? We consider her family, but does _she_ think we are?

"Liam, when is your eighteenth birthday?" I ask quietly. He stares suspiciously before answering. "It was on December 20th, why do you ask?" I start to think. After he graduates high school, Liam can legally move out. The question is, can he take Melanie with him? "I've got a plan." I say confidently. He stares at me, but listens to my thoughts anyway. " Since you are eighteen, after you graduate high school in two weeks, you can legally move out. I want you to move out and take Melanie with you. It may sound crazy, and your parents may disown you and Melanie for it, but in that case, I will be more than happy to pay for your life necessities." I say. The look on Liam's face is telling me that he thinks my plan is foolish, but after a minute, he contemplates it and nods. "I am still going to go back to America, I want to see my sisters." He says.

I was confused at first, he said 'sisters' instead of sister, who is here with him, but then I remember that Melanie told Hunny that she had twin sisters. "I called them the night we moved into the apartments, but they said that even though I was only gone for a day, they already missed their brother Haru." He says while he stares out the window.

"Haru?" I ask. He doesn't remove his glare from the vast open outside, but continues to speak. "Yeah, they call me Haru, which is short for Hatsuharu, my first middle name. Same thing with Melanie, they call her Yuri, her first middle name. My mother decided to stick to her Japanese roots and give us the longest names in history, the result being all of our middle names are in japanese. Like Melanie's full name is Melanie Yuri Misaki Sakura Hikari Smallwood." I am actually surprised, they have Japanese middle names, but English first names. I hear 'Hikari' and start to smile, that is the more feminine form of 'Hikaru'.

"So, do your twin sisters have japanese middle names too?" I ask curiously. " Yes. Stacy's full name is Anastasia Midori Yuki Chiyo Megumi Smallwood, while Mia's full name is McKenzie Mei Kazue Ai Naomi Smallwood." He says before inhaling. Those are some pretty long names, but in rich families, they are very common. "So, what's yours?" I ask. He just dished out a total of 16 names, but never mentioned his. He sighed and then said "Liam Hatsuharu Takumi Kyo Tamaki Smallwood." He says. I was surprised to hear 'Tamaki' in his title, but found it amusing that we share a name.

"We have two weeks to come up with the rest of the plan and legal paperwork. I will walk Melanie home today so I can talk to you about it." I say as I turn my head to see Hunny and Mori coming through the door. I walk over to them so I can deliver news to them, but my mind kept wandering off to the plan. If my idea didn't work, everything can go wrong. Hikaru will pretty much die, which will cause Kaoru to go into a never ending depression, which will worry customers, which will mean Kyoya is mad from loss of profit, which results in me losing my head. I do not want to lose my head.

Melanie's Point Of View, After School

"Tamaki, may I ask if there is a specific reason you decided to walk me home today?" I ask. He smiles a charming smile and nods. "I just decided to visit Liam today. We talked today, and now we have some unfinished business." He says. I nod. I was going to call my sisters the second after I get home. I was craving to hear there voices, two months is much too long without hearing a peep out of your sisters.

When we get there, I see Liam doing his homework, as usual. "Hey Liam. Where is mom?" I ask as I enter the door. He shakes his head and then lifts his head up to see Tamaki towering over me. "So, you really did come. Did you bother Melanie by calling her by her middle names?" He asks. I was surprised to hear that, but turned my head to Tamaki who was trying to explain how he wasn't a stalker, and that Liam told him my full name. I didn't care if he knew, I just don't like it when anyone except the twins calls me Yuri. It reminds me too much of them. I stopped paying attention to Tamaki, and started to walk to the fridge, forgetting my original motive. "Why would I bother her by calling her by her middle name? She has such a pretty name! I like all of them, especially Misaki! She is a 'beautiful blossom' indeed..." Tamaki starts with a list of flattery to cover up any way he could have insulted me.

I shake my head in amusement. "Tamaki, calm down. You didn't insult me in anyway. I don't care if you call me by any of my middle names, except Yuri. I prefer the other four names I have." I say as I pour myself a glass of apple juice. Then I remember that I wanted to call the twins. I headed to my purse to grab my cell phone, but stopped. Even though I don't want to return to America, I do want to see them again. Showing up as a surprise will probably make the moment we reunite so much better. As much as I ache to hear their voices again, I return to the kitchen table with my homework. Tamaki was sitting with Liam on the couch in the living room and closed the doors so they can drown out the their conversation.

I was trying to do my homework, but thought about Mia and Stacy the entire time. My mind was telling me to forget equations and imagine the look on their faces once we arrive at our house. I slowly started to wander away from that set of twins to a different pair. The ones with the fiery red hair and the playful personalities. I was going to miss them, and of course the rest of the host club too. I wish there was some way for me to have them both, but my crowded head told me the same thing every day for the next two weeks. There was absolutely no way.

Two Weeks Later, At The Airport

The second we stepped in, I saw the host club standing in the middle of the crowd, with Mori holding up a board that said ' Smallwood'. Liam shook his head and tried to turn around, but I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him towards them with my mother in tow. Haruhi was the first to spot us and smiled her signature smile. Tamaki followed her face to see us coming towards them. His eyes get huge and he runs towards me and gives me a bone crushing hug. I embrace it, but soon gasp for air, thankfully, he took a hint and let me go.

When I catch my breath, the entire host club is standing in front of us with sad smiles on their faces. You would think we were family, not friends, the way they are acting. "Come on guys, cheer up! It's not like we are cutting off contact with each other. We still have phones, and e-mail." I say. Their faces perk up a bit, but they still seem down. "We won't get to _see _you everyday though." Says Tamaki. "Yea, we can't tease you." The twins say in unison. " Or eat cake with you." Hunny says with tears in his eyes. I take in what they say, since it is true. Soon, tears form in my eyes too. I know I will miss everything, even the twins sexually harassing me.

Liam taps my shoulder and I snap out of my dream world and blink a few times to stop the tears. I look at Liam, who is looking at his watch. "It is almost time to board. Mom and I will head towards the gate, you have a couple minutes to say goodbye, but then you have to hurry up and get to the plane. Bye everyone, and I hope to see you in the future." Liam says as he looks at Tamaki, who gives him a nod.

After they leave, I run up to the host club and hug the first person I see, who happened to be Hikaru. He smiles, and then hugs me back. Soon the other members follow and hug us too. "Promise you will come back Mel-chan." Hunny whispers. I retreat from Hikaru's chest so I can answer Hunny's question. "Of course, I can't just leave my family, especially since they where the ones who have been at my side through all the tears I have shed." I answer. Everyone looks like they are about to burst out in sobs, except Tamaki, who already is crying.

"I know what we will do!" Starts Hikaru. "We will fly over there every week to visit you!" Kaoru finishes. Everyone starts chatting about a tour of America, while I stare in disbelief. I forgot how rich people can do whatever the hell they want, whenever they want, but when they start talking about how they want to visit American malls and that they heard of the great stores in there, like Victoria's Secret, I start to stop them.

"Ok, you guys need to calm down. Victoria's Secret is a lingerie store, and they have a lot of fast food in malls, which is not good for the skin. You can come, but let me help keep you guys entertained." I say. Hikaru and Kaoru start to snicker. I give them a glare, and then realize five minutes has passed since Liam left. "Damn it! I need to go!" I say before I can stop myself.

I start to give hugs to everybody, whose faces have managed to slump down in despair again. I start with Kyoya, who hugs me a bit tighter than expected. "We will miss you Melanie, but of course, I will the most because unlike most of the people I know, you actually had a brain." I smile, coming from Kyoya that is a huge compliment. I go to Mori and Hunny next. Both have smiles on their faces, but they still put a lot of force behind their hug. "Mel-chan, Takashi and I will miss you the most! Eating cake just won't be the same without someone special to share it with!" Hunny exclaims. Mori nods and motions me to Tamaki.

Before I even take a step in his direction Tamaki, once again, has me in a tight hug. He is still sobbing, but his cries don't sound authentic. Something tells me he has something up his sleeve. "Oh Melanie, we will miss you so much! You are such a breath of fresh air, with your tight curls and your breath-taking smile, now we can only fawn over Haruhi! Not saying that's bad, but I like teasing Hikaru instead of vice versa!" He exclaims. I laugh at his over-dramatic display of affection, but tell him I will miss him too.

When I get to Haruhi, she gives me a tight hug. Haruhi may not show her emotions often, but I have somehow caused something inside of her to want to cry. " I will miss you so much. You are my best friend after all, besides, as Tamaki said, you are a breath of fresh air!" She exclaims, but then her voice got low and she whispers to me, "Especially since you don't act like these damn rich people." I laugh and nod my head. They do get annoying sometimes with their antics.

The last hosts I have yet to give a personal goodbye to, are Hikaru and Kaoru. Hikaru has his arms open wide, but Kaoru cuts in front and picks me up, probably trying to tease his twin. "Well sweetheart, know I can only mess with Haruhi. It is fun to see Tamaki flip out over her," He leans down and whispers the rest in my ear. "but is even more fun to harass you around Hikaru. He doesn't like anyone around his girl." I raise my eyebrows at first, but then give Kaoru another quick squeeze before turning to Hikaru.

When I get to Hikaru, I stay in his arms an extra second. I wanted to stay in that position forever, but started to pull back before I actually considered doing that. Before I managed to walk away, Hikaru grabbed my arm and spun me around back into his arms, where he kissed me one last time before letting me go. My face was blushing from him doing that in front of everybody, but it didn't stop me from turning around to give everybody my famous dimpled smile one last time. They waved and smiled back, and with that I turned back around, and pulled my luggage behind me as I made my way to the airplane.

Hikaru's Point Of View

"My life is over." I say as I watch Melanie walk away from us. "Well, you must have an extra minute of life left in you now that you stole her third kiss away from her." Tamaki comments, with his 'fatherly' instincts taking over. I glare at him before I realize something. "Tamaki, how do you know that was her _third _kiss?" I ask suspiciously. He glares at Kyoya, who in return gives him a smile.

There was obviously something going on between these two. "That is for us to know, and for you to never find out." Kyoya replies."Now that I think about it, I am surprised you didn't run after her." Tamaki wonders out loud. That grabs my attention. I start to wonder the same thing, why didn't I run after her? She only left a minute ago, I can catch up if I hurry. "If you really loved her, wouldn't you want to bring her back?" Hunny pipes in. Hunny is right, if I really did love her, why am I letting her slip though my fingers? "Thanks guys!" I say as I bolt through the crowd in the direction she went. The last thing I hear is Tamaki calling me crazy and asking Hunny why he would say that, and when I look back for the slightest moment, I see everyone with a smile on their face, except Tamaki, who is laughing to himself before running after me.

I run. I run even when I gasp for air, even when my legs start to hurt. I am running through the crowds because I am not going to let my chance at happiness get on that airplane. I jump over security check, and fly to the gate. When I get there, the lady sees me sweating and asks if I am alright, to which I respond, "Gotta...get...Melanie...off..plane." Her eyes go wide, but tells me that she can not allow me on the plane without a ticket.

For a second, my hopes are crushed, then I form a cliché plan. "Hey, look over there! That rat is _huge_!" I scream. When the gullible lady looks the other way, I make a break for it, only to be caught by Tamaki and Kaoru. "Well, my little hopeless romantic, I am afraid I can't let you get on that plane." Tamaki explains while dragging me back to the rest of the host club. I try to break out of their grasp, but having two people hold me back is quite a challenge. "Tono! I have to get her! Kaoru, let me go! Why the hell do you people have something against me kidnapping her off the airplane?!" I exclaim, still trying to break out of their grasp by stepping on their toes and even trying to bite them.

"You idiots! Everyone doesn't want her to leave, so why are you holding me back?!" I yell. At this point, many people are looking in our direction, probably wondering why a sixteen year old is kicking and screaming like a little kid. Everyone laughs to themselves, while Tamaki mumbles under his breath, "You will have her soon enough." I take that as some type of hippie saying, but still try to run to the gate. "Hikaru, in all honesty, I didn't want her to leave, but come on, grow up! I may not know what love feels like, but I doubt it makes you want to do crazy things like jumping security and tricking gullible ladies!" Kaoru exclaims. I beg to differ. "Let's agree to disagree!" I slam back at him. I feel bad for yelling at my twin at first, but then remember he is an obstacle in my path to get her back. Now I am in over drive my legs are flailing around everywhere, so Kyoya and Mori have taken a firm grip on them, and after a minute, I give up.

In the end, I am watching the plane go by as it heads for Atlanta. I curse myself and damn Tamaki for keeping me back. I mean really, he tells me to tell her I like her, but when I almost kiss her on a beach, he wants to kill me. He pretty much tells me to go after her, but then grabs me before I get on the airplane. I can only think one thing...

_Why Me?_

Melanie's Point Of View

I haven't even been gone for a _day _and I already miss the host club. It is all I thought about, when I was on the plane, I was praying Hikaru would burst through and carry me out. The thought hurt, I have grown a special relationship with the host club, the exact thing I set out not to do. The voice is nagging me again, I will never get rid of it. Liam looks at me in concern before coming to a realization and saying, "Love is patient, love is kind, but love means my dear sister Melanie is slowly losing her mind!" I punch him, even though I know it is true. He laughs it off and we both slowly fall asleep.

In Atlanta

When I woke up, I saw the familiar lights of the Atlanta Airport. They blinded me for a second, before I retreated back into my seat, only to have Liam shake me awake five minutes later. I didn't want to, but the promise of a warm bed kept me awake enough to get through the airport into our rented car. I pretty much stumbled to the front door, jet lag bit me in the butt and isn't letting go.

After I walked through the door, I was immediately awoken by high pitched screams running from behind me. Liam and I turn around and are attacked by two little girls with straight brown hair and blue eyes, our sisters. "Yuri! Haru! Your finally back!" They squeal in unison. We hug them tightly and don't let go for a few minutes. I started crying, what a surprise. The only thing that stopped me, was when I saw a tall figure standing in the door way. My father. I immediately get up and go upstairs to my room, the last thing I want is to see him.

I lay on my bed, thinking about Japan, the place where the rest of my family is. I think about Hunny's cake obsession, Hikaru and Kaoru's twincest act, Tamaki's ability to make me feel warm inside while still managing to talk sense into me. I even miss the daily blackmail Kyoya has lined up for Haruhi. I softly whimper to myself and flip over in my bed.

My head was either too crowded, or the fact that I had a pillow covering my ears, but I didn't hear the door open and close. I only felt someone petting my head. When I look up, I see the Stacy's hand hovering over my head, while Mia is sitting on the bed. I grin, but my recent reminiscing has left me feeling like a wreck, something that obviously showed through my disguise.

"What's wrong Yuri?" Mia asked. "You seem all gloomy. Wait, that is a symptom of cooties!" Stacy expresses. I let loose an authentic laugh. "Yea, I guess I have cooties. The thing is, the person who gave me cooties is back in Japan." I say with a sad smile plastered on my face.

"Well, why don't you invite him here?" Stacy asks after a few moments. "Yea! You went to a rich people school! Can't he just fly here?" Mia proclaims. I shake my head, but reconsider it. The twins look at each other before staring back at me.

"Well, we want to meet him!" They exclaim. The sudden confession startles me, but I carelessly throw words around, because that is how stupid a tired me is. "Well, if you want to meet him, why don't you call him on my cell phone?" I say as I toss it their way. Their eyes light up and they quickly run out of the room. After I realize what I did, I spent an hour wrestling with them to get it back, before Liam came and took it from them. It took a bribery to get it back, and by the time that was done, I fell asleep on the floor.

Back In Japan

Tamaki's Point Of View

It has only been a day since she left and Hikaru is practically living on the sofa, just looking up to the ceiling. I sit on the armchair, staring at him. "You know, sitting there won't bring her back." I say. He doesn't respond for a moment, but then asks me the question I know was burning inside of him.

"Why didn't you let me go after her?" I shake my head. "Well, Liam and I had a plan. I am not just going to let my youngest daughter leave! It is a disgrace to think so!" I say. Hikaru sits up and stares at me.

"But when Liam told me about how he is still going to America to see his sisters, I could hear the longing in his voice and thought that if Liam is that emotional, Melanie is probably a wreck." I say. I look through the window of the Hitachiin home. It was a beautiful day, but the dreary atmosphere inside was ruining it. "You know how so many people are reluctant to say 'I Love You'? I realized when she left, that I can basically say it a million times, over and over again, and not want for a single second to take it back." Hikaru says as he stares outside too.

I contemplate his words for a second. Hikaru really has fallen in love. It is written on his face for everyone to see. I open my mouth to say what is on my mind, but instead I say what is in my heart. "If you really love something let it go, if it comes back, it is yours. If it doesn't, it never was."

He stares at me for a second, waiting for me to continue. I let a sly smile spread on my face before continuing. "That quote would work in every situation except for this one. We are going to make her come back! To hell with the cliché sayings! Get up Hikaru! I may not approve of you all the time, but I rather have you at Melanie's lover than anybody else! Besides, Liam is taking _way _to long." Hikaru smiles and quickly gets up.

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?" I ask in my Shakespearean voice. Hikaru contemplates it before shaking his head. "All right then! Our quest of cheesy cliches and romantic quotes to get our dear Melanie back is starting right now!" I say as I grab my cell-phone to call Kyoya. Hikaru smirks before pulling out his own and dialing Mori's number. The determination in Hikaru's eyes is blinding and you can see hope wash over his face. If we have to go through the trouble of getting Melanie back so I can see that everyday, then this is going to be one hell of a ride.

_**A:N**__**:**_ Melanie-Says here!O.K., I would like to thank AMTdftba for beta reading, and loyal readers for... well, loyal reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I will get started on chapter 10 right away!


	10. Guess Who!

Why Me?

Chapter 10: Guess Who!

Stacy's Point Of View

"Why not?" Mia asks in a whiny voice. Melanie rolls her eyes and shake her head. "For the billionth time, he is in Japan! Besides, it isn't like you guys know Japanese." She says with an exasperated look on her face. I look at Mia before cracking a grin. "Or do we?" We say in unison. I can see in her eyes that she is shocked. It is pretty funny to see her freak out, but I muffle a laughter. "Sorry to tell you this Yuri." I start. "But, we have grown up since you left. We are now _fluent _in Japanese." Mia finishes with a mischievous grin on her face. Her eyes grow wide in shock. Thanks to the power of Japanese learning systems, Mia and I have learned an entire _language _in two months. She regains her posture and look at us. "Well, that won't matter if you don't know his name, or his phone number." She say victoriously. We bow out in shame, leading her to think she wins. I grab Mia and head out of the kitchen. There is always a way to find something out. In this case, we go straight to the most obvious source, Melanie's cell-phone.

"Stay quiet Mia! We need to sneak the cell phone out without making a sound!" I hiss at my twin. She rolls her eyes, but quickly opens Melanie's bedroom door. We both sneak in, and soon separate to look for her phone. Every second passing is another second the risks of getting caught get higher. After five minutes, Mia starts to complain about searching and I am about to tell her to shut up when we hear a soft rumble coming from Melanie's dresser. I stare at my twin, who stares right back at me with a look of curiosity plastered on her face. We slowly make our way to her dresser and open it up. Sitting inside are Melanie's former school uniform and a bright light peeking from underneath it. I pick up the material, while Mia takes out the cell phone and reads the screen. "Tamaki Suou." I rub my finger across the screen and start to read the message out loud when I hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. I quickly take my twin and escape to the walk in closet, where we stay and read the message.

_From: Tamaki Suou_

_Hey Melanie!_

_Just want you to know how much we miss you!(Especially Hikaru! He hasn't stopped complaining since you left!) Also, you might see us sooner than expected! We have decided to come visit you! It will most likely be tomorrow, just to give you a heads up! Text me back when you get this!_

I laugh, but quickly cover my mouth. I forgot that Melanie is probably in the room. I confirm that, after I hear Melanie say this."Damn it! Where did I place my phone? I am expecting a text from Tamaki any day now. It is probably in the kitchen." And with that, she leaves the room. I let out the rest of my laugh that I was holding in. We are a step closer to figuring out who the ' Evil Master of Cooties' is. It is stuck between this 'Tamaki' guy or this depressive man named 'Hikaru'. I decide to find out.

_To:Tamaki Suou_

_Hey Tamaki! I miss you too! That is so cool that you are coming! I can't wait for you to meet my amazing, smart, beautiful, funny sisters! Also, can you remind me why Hikaru is complaining? I am such a airhead! I haven't seen you guys in a couple days and I almost forget everything about my friends! Text me back as soon as you get this!_

I quickly hit send before I burst into a fit of giggles. I had to put all those compliments about us in there. We were giggling too loud though because the next thing I know, the door opens. Standing there is a surprised looking Haru. He cocks his eyebrow up, waiting for us to spill the beans. I scratch my head nervously. "Hey Haru. Fancy meeting you here in this nice, dark closet..." I start to say. "If you are trying to get into Melanie's personal life, you should have just asked me." Haru says before sitting down in between Mia and I. "Ok, Kyoya gave me daily updates in Japan about Melanie while she was in the host club, and I know pretty much everything that happened while she was there." He tells us before grabbing the cell phone.

"Haru, what's a host club?" Mia asks curiously. I am curious too. I never heard of a 'Host club' in America. Haru scratches his head nervously before answering, "You aren't old enough to know what a host club is." I start to laugh. He thinks he can hide something from us. He stares at me, but shakes it off. "Anyway, by what I have heard, Melanie had a crush on a guy named Hikaru." He says while scrolling through her contacts. "Found him! So, which one of you wants to call him?" He asks with a evil grin on his face. "I do! Wait, I sent something to that 'Tamaki' guy, can I borrow the phone to text him something first?" I ask. Liam scrolls down a bit more before handing me the phone. I quickly text him never mind, and then scroll back up until I see Hikaru. "Ready?" I ask my siblings before pressing the call button. They both shake their head eagerly. I press the button and put the call on speaker.

After a few rings, someone picks up. "Hello? Who is this?" He asks. "This is Yuri's sisters. Who are you?" Mia asks. I do a face palm, who do you think he is Mia? I could swear that she is too clueless to be my twin sometimes. The guy on the phone chuckles before answering. "I am Hikaru." Mia's mouth drops open, before she screams into the phone, " So _you _are the one that gave Yuri cooties!" Haru and I were holding our mouths so we don't burst out into laughter. My stomach hurt so much, and by the sound of it, Hikaru's did too. "Well, I guess I did." He answers.

After a second, I hear another voice that sounds slightly different than Hikaru's, but very close to his at the same time. "Hikaru, who are you talking to? It is two in the morning! Hang up and go to bed." The voice said. Hikaru's starts talking again. "Sorry, I don't want to hang up. Especially not on Melanie's _sisters_." I can hear some commotion. "Ow! Stop pulling on my hair!" Hikaru exclaims. "Your hair is so red, a little red spot will blend right in!" The voice says. Soon, the mysterious voice is on the receiver. "Well, hello Melanie's sisters!" The voice says. "Who are you? We were talking to the evil cootie master just now." I ask. He chuckles. "Well, I just happen to be the evil cootie masters twin, but you can call me 'Future brother in-law Kaoru', and don't worry, I am cootie free." You can hear Hikaru in the background start to get angry at Kaoru. I giggle. I like Kaoru, he is funny and is pretty good at teasing his twin.

"Well, future brother in-law Kaoru, whatever that means, are you two going to Japan with Tamaki too?" Mia asks. I do another face palm. She really is too clueless. " A brother in-law is the brother of your sister's husband. I am your future brother in-law, which means I am the brother of Hikaru, who is going to marry your sister. Also, my name is Kaoru. Does it make sense now?" Mia's eyes get big and she looks at me before basically screaming, " Hikaru is going to marry Stacy? Stacy, he is seven years older than you! Give it a break!" You can hear both the twins over the phone laugh very hard, which is a good thing because Haru and I couldn't hold in the rest of our laughter either. "No, he is going to marry Melanie." Kaoru answers before breaking into another fit of laughter.

After a while, the brothers start to replace laughter with yawns. "Well, it is pretty late over here, do you mind if we say good night?" Hikaru asks. " No, but you never answered our question. Are you coming with Tamaki?" I ask. "Are we coming with Tono? Yea, we are." Kaoru answers. "Great! Good night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Mia and I say in unison. "Good night." The brothers say together.

When we hang up, I smack Mia lightly in the head. "Ow! What was that for?" She squeals in surprise. I grin back at her. "For acting like an idiot to our future brother-in-laws." I say as I open the closet door. She grins back, I am having second thoughts on if she really is clueless or not. Haru shakes his head, but gets up and tiptoes out of the room with us.

Liam's Point Of View, The Next Day

True to their word, the host club came that afternoon. I was the first to hear the door bell ring, so I got up and went to the door. My gut was telling me not to open it, but I ignored it and opened the door. I was hit with a loud and overly-excited wave of hello's and Hunny was about to force a hug on me, but I responded like this, "Oh God! You really are here!" and then I slammed the door in their faces.

I started pacing back and forth thinking to myself about how they may be staying with us for who knows how long. Kyoya, Haruhi, and Mori, I don't mind, but the others will get crazy if you allow them to. I know Tamaki and I have that plan, but I was also hoping for a couple days of peace. I was hoping that everything that happened yesterday was a dream, as funny as that dream was."Hello? Liam, I know you are in there." Tamaki exclaims while tapping on the glass. "Hey Liam, who was at the front door?" Melanie calls from up-stairs. "Nobody!" I call. I soon hear footsteps come down stairs and I quickly block the path of my sister. "Nobody's at the door!" I exclaim urgently. I wanted them to go away, if I have to deal with Melanie's emotions all over again, I might kill myself. Don't get me wrong, she is my sister and I will do anything for her, but when it comes to girl's emotions, I am helpless.

"I wasn't coming down to get the door, but now that you've blocked my way, I will go!" She says as she tries to duck under me. I grab her and pull her in a bear hug, while turning the opposite way of the door. "No!" I say. Soon the Stacy and Mia come bouncing around the corner, see our dilemma and then walk over to the door, but not before telling us that we should keep our arguments to ourselves and that the people outside could probably hear them. "No!" I exclaim before Stacy opens the door.

"Hello!" The entire host club greets as they stand in the door way. After a minute, Stacy and Mia drop the books they were reading and run into Hikaru and Kaoru. "Hey! It's our future brother-in laws!" Mia exclaims as she jumps on Kaoru. Stacy chuckles before doing the same to Hikaru. Hikaru and Kaoru laugh before picking the girls up and placing them on their shoulders. "Yep! It is us! By the way, wedding invitations should be in the mail anytime soon." Kaoru jokes. The look on Melanie's face when she hears that mixed with the shock of seeing the host club standing in the doorway, is absolutely priceless. "Well, it is nice to know you missed us so much Melanie." Kyoya says in his smooth as silk voice. She stutters trying to get words out. "Well, I know Mel-chan missed us, even if she can't get it out! She probably missed Hikaru the most though, especially since at the airport he-" Hunny starts before Mori, Hikaru, and Tamaki clamp his mouth shut.

My ears perk up and my mind goes into overdrive, what was he about to say? "Well guys, now I am really curious about what happened at the airport." I say expectantly. Melanie's face goes red, and she heads back up the stairs. "Oh nothing! I was just joking!" Hunny quickly tries to cover up. I am not an idiot, and there is more than one way to find things out. I cast a glance to Kyoya who gives me a nod. I am glad we are on the same side. "Ok then! Lets move this awkward moment along!" Tamaki says. "Agreed." The host club mumbles.

"Well, would you guys like to come inside?" I ask. Everyone quickly gathers their things and joins me inside of the house. "For commoners, you guys sure live fancy." Hikaru notes. I feel slightly annoyed by the comment, but move along. "Well, that's pretty interesting considering we are _not _commoners." I say as I lead them into the dining hall. The twins look confused, but Kyoya whispers something into their ears and they quickly shut up. "So, where did Melanie go to anyway?" Kaoru asks. "Up to her room." I answer. "How about we go get her?" Both set of twins exclaim at the same time. I let out a sigh, I should start thinking before I speak. "Is everyone really that eager to see her? She probably doesn't believe that that was really you guys out there." I ask. I get seven nods in my direction, which obviously means that I don't have a choice. I let out another sigh before waving my hand in the direction of the stairs.

When we arrived by Melanie's room, I knocked on the door, only to hear a muffled grunt in return. "Melanie, the host club is here to see you." I say with fake excitement making a big appearance in my tone. "Hikaru, what's a host club?" Stacy whispers. He opened his mouth to tell her the truth, but he was quickly stopped by the hands of Mori, Kaoru, and Haruhi. "Leave me alone. That was a cruel trick you played on me Liam. It is amazing how you hired people to play them just so you can mess with me, but that was a low blow. You know those guys were like family to me." She responds. "Seriously Melanie? You saw them with your own two eyes and you still believe that it wasn't them?" I reply. I turn around, and see Tamaki and Hunny ready to burst into tears. "C'mon Melanie, it is really us." Kyoya calls through the door. "Liam, I must admit I am very impressed at how good you can imitate Kyoya, but cut it out and leave me alone!" Melanie responds, with a hint of spite in her voice.

I motion for Hikaru to give it a try. He simply walks up to the door and opens it. I was shocked at first, but then follow him inside. You can see a giant lump in the middle of Melanie's bed. Hikaru walks up and looks like he is about to poke her, but then quickly starts to tickle Melanie uncontrollably. She starts laughing hysterically and soon falls out of the bed. Everyone else is muffling chuckles and laughter while we witness the cute scene.

"Ow, Liam! That hurt." Melanie says while still being wrapped up in the blanket on the floor. Hikaru starts to peel away the layers and before pulling back the last one he laughs before responding. "It's a good thing I am not Liam then." Melanie's head pops out of the blanket and her eyes grow wide in surprise. She turns to her side, and sees the rest of the host club standing in the doorway. "You guys are actually here." Melanie barely manages to get out. "I told you that, didn't I?" I say. She glares at me, and for a second we have a staring contest before she sticks her tongue out at me and re-directs her attention back to Hikaru.

"I thought Tamaki texted you that we were coming?" Hikaru asks. Melanie looks confused, while Stacy and Mia quickly sneak out the door, with Kaoru right on their tails. They are smart, chances are they will crack under pressure. "I don't remember getting a text." Melanie responds. I quickly try to cover the tracks of everything that happened yesterday, especially since the ones who started it just left the room, leaving me to face this by myself. "Ok then! How about some lunch?" I ask while I usher everyone out the door.

When I exit, I see the twins and Kaoru laughing at the bottom of the stairs, they obviously were celebrating how great they are when it comes to messing with their siblings. "Come on guys, lunch time." I say while I pick up Stacy and Mia from the ground. "Aww. We were having fun with brother Kaoru!" Mia complains. "Don't call him brother Kaoru, it makes him sound like a priest, and believe me, he is anything except a priest." I say with a slight hint of annoyance showing again. "C'mon Liam! Don't be like that. You know what you need? A girlfriend." Kaoru says while taking Mia and plopping her on his shoulders. "I heard this speech from Melanie, I don't want to hear it again, especially not from you." I exclaim. "See? This is why you don't want them as your brother-in laws." I say as I lead Stacy to her seat. I recognize that the entire host club is chuckling, which, knowing them, is not a good thing.

Soon my mom enters the room, she is first surprised to see everyone, but then realizes that Kyoya is with them and takes a seat. My mom and I rely heavily on Kyoya to inform us on everything that happens at the host club, so far he is doing an amazing job. "Hello. It is a pleasure to see you gentlemen again." She says with a smile. My mother looks tired, she probably got home late last night from a meeting. "Hello Mrs. Smallwood. How are you doing today?" Mori asks. She sighs before answering, "Let's just say I have had better days." When she says she has had 'better days', she is basically saying that it was pretty damn hard to get through work without wanting to either kill someone, fall asleep, or quit. The servant comes up to me and I was first startled when she asks me what I want to drink. I was still stuck in the 'old' days when I had to go get my own glass of water from the fridge.

After I answer and we eat, the table becomes very chatty. " I wasn't expecting you boys here, well not at the same time at least." My mom says after she takes a sip of her champagne. "Lucky for us, we all magically got our parents to let us come here." Tamaki says. "C'mon Tamaki, I think we both know it wasn't magic. It was Kyoya being himself." Haruhi exclaims. Kyoya smirks, but goes on without saying a word. The silence filled the air, it had almost a suffocating quality to it. Stacy and Mia broke the peace though, "Mommy, what is a host club?" They ask. Almost in unison, everyone screams out "You are not old enough to know that!" The girls looked surprised at first, but then start to laugh. It wasn't a regular laugh though, this one progressively got eviler as the seconds ticked by. Hikaru and Kaoru, smiled to themselves. I knew what they were thinking, and I shot them a look that told them everything they needed to know. They were _not _going to take the twins in as their apprentices. "You guys think you can hide things from us..." Mia says. "You people are absolutely hilarious." Stacy exclaims. I must admit, they pass off their evil aura almost as good as Kyoya.

When I turn my head to my mom, she has the most confused look on her face, but quickly regains her cool. "So Tamaki, are you really French?" My mom asks after a second. "Yes, born and raised in France. Even went to the northern beaches once, it was quite a while ago though." Tamaki responds. My mom chuckles before continuing, " Ah, the northern beaches. We went there once ten years ago, I always remember it because Melanie lost her swimming top there and has been scared of water ever since." Melanie's face goes firetruck red, and the only thing stopping her from crawling underneath the table is me. The host club is trying very hard to hold in their laughs, but it is pretty obvious that they were about to explode.

I cast a look at my mom, who glares back, obviously enjoying teasing Melanie. "Also reminds me of the time she walked into a pool and made a big scene by acting like she was drowning, even though the water was only a foot deep." She exclaims with a laugh escaping her lips. Melanie was taking on Tamaki's sulking tactic by going into the emo corner. "If you think that is bad, when we were four, Kaoru was so scared to get into the pool, that when he got pushed in, he peed himself." Hikaru adds. Kaoru almost did a spit take before responding that he was four and that he didn't know water didn't want to eat him. "Oh really? It was only the last year of middle school before Tamaki found out that the tooth fairy wasn't real, and that it was his father laying money under his pillow." Kyoya says before taking a sip of his drink. "You were still losing teeth in middle school?" Hikaru questions Tamaki. Tamaki's face went beet red and soon joined Melanie in the emo corner.

I was sweat-dropping the entire time. What started as a normal lunch, is becoming a fight over who can reveal the most embarrassing info about their best friend. "Mitsukuni had to wear diapers to bed until he was twelve." Mori drops into the raging battle. Hunny's face shows shock, but he quickly retaliates. "That's right Takashi! But I remember a certain boy who didn't want to take a poop in the toilet because he was scared that it would come back and bite him in the butt!" Mori gives a slow clap, acknowledging that Hunny is the victor.

At this point, Melanie and Tamaki have retreated from the sulking corner, and are laughing at all the crazy phobias and embarrassing childhood stories that they didn't know the host club had. Haruhi didn't bring up any stories, which is surprising considering how long she has been in the host club, but she still added bits and pieces to already embarrassing moments that she happened to witness. We were actually laughing for a good hour, and luckily, the entire time my mom didn't bring up any stories about me.

Melanie's Point Of View, A Couple Hours Later

"It's getting late Tamaki, we better get going." Kaoru says before releasing a yawn. "Yea, it's already seven o'clock." He says before getting up. I honestly didn't want them to leave, but if they have someplace to be, then I can't stop them. "So, where are you boys staying?" My mom asks. Everyone sweat-drops. "Well, Kyoya, do we have someplace to stay?" Tamaki asks nervously. "No, I regret to inform you that we don't." Kyoya responds. For Kyoya, this is a once in a lifetime scene. I was secretly enjoying on the inside, but didn't dare show it on the outside. "Lucky for you, we have plenty of extra rooms." My mom responds. Everyone responds with a thank you and then goes to the car to get their luggage. "You know Melanie, I doubt you think anything will happen, but you probably want to lock your door tonight." My mom says before retreating into the study. I was a bit mad that my mom would suggest that, but I start to rethink it. They are all guys, stronger than me, and at least five foot eleven, with the exception of Hunny. That would be a nightmare.

When the guys come back, mom puts me in charge of showing everybody to their room. I lead everyone to there rooms and soon feel ready to pass out. I keep in mind that I didn't take a shower this morning and that I need to do that before even thinking about going to sleep. As I walk down the hall, I have this nagging feeling telling me that I forgot something, but it won't tell me what. I continue to go to the bathroom anyway and take my shower.

When I get out of the shower, I start to get dressed in my pajamas, but soon realize something. I didn't bring a shirt. The thing I forgot to bring is of all things, a shirt. My mind starts to boil over in fear. I am going to have to walk out of here, down a hall, to my room. What if someone comes out and sees me? Oh goodness, did I do something to deserve this?

I brush my hair and wrap a towel around my chest. I start to pray that no one walks out of their room, and then I exit the bathroom. I started walking and no one came out. Slowly, I felt more confident that I would get to my room without anybody coming out of theirs. The second I crossed the door of the room right next to mine, I hear the door open, which leads me to mentally smack myself for actually thinking nothing was going to happen. "You look like you are trying to get arrested for public indecency." I hear Hikaru say from behind me. I wanted to make some lame comeback like 'Your a public indecency!', but gave up on the idea. I slowly turn around. He was standing there with a giant grin on his face. "Thank you. Now if you excuse me, I would like to go cover up." I say, but before I get a chance to turn around, I hear Hikaru snicker.

"You were thinking of something perverted, weren't you?" I ask. "You know it." He replies. "Yea, I do. I also know that whatever the hell is in your dirty mind is not going to happen." I respond. "We will see about that." He retaliates. "Ha! We might as well put money on it." I add. "Why not? I could always use some extra money." He says with a smirk on his face, then suddenly pushes me against the wall, and my heart starts racing. He bears his golden eyes into mine, definitely using his charms against me, all while taking his lips and slowly getting closer to my own. I drop my face down to my interesting feet, they stay there until he uses his signature chin lift. I was hoping the moment continued, but I also wanted it to stop so bad. My room was only a couple feet away, I could run if Hikaru gets distracted. My mothers voice is echoing through my head, telling me to lock my door, that I don't know what they will do.

"So, you wanna take that back now?" He purrs. I gulp. His lips continued to close the distance, but when they were only a few centimeters away, there was a knock on the wall and Kaoru's voice came through, "Hey, can you guys calm down? I personally don't want to see Melanie appear on next seasons Teen Mom." I muffle the need to laugh. I am genuinely curious how he knows about that show. Hikaru backs up for a second, which is just enough time for me to slip through his grasp and run to my room.

When I do get inside, my heart is still pounding, but that didn't stop me from putting on an actual shirt.

I am definitely staying in my room for the rest of the night. Not coming out for anything, not even to use the bathroom. I eventually fall asleep, but it wasn't until my restless mind goes through all the painful questions in my head. Why do I have to be stuck with this hormone-crazed guy? Why do I have to like him? Why is a part of me allowing myself to like him? Everything is so confusing, so difficult to understand, but now that I think of it, was life ever simple to begin with? I let a smile form on my face for the slightest second. No, it never was, and a small part of me hopes it never will.

A:N- I have reached a historic time in my fanfiction writing experience, ten chapters! I know, it isn't anything to brag about, but it is still pretty big for me. Anyway, read and review and I hope you liked Chapter 10! Also, since my beta, AMTdftba, is sick, please forgive me for the mistakes. Again, hope you liked Chapter 10, and I hope the perverts out there didn't think anything was going to happen in the end!


	11. There Is Always A Fine Line

Why Me?

Chapter 11: There Is Always A Fine Line

Melanie's Point of View

I had a horrible dream, scratch that, nightmare. I felt like I was running, and I couldn't stop, no matter how much it hurt. I see everyone from my life pass by, they are all laughing at me, even the host club. I want to cry, their never-ending insults and laughter weighing me down. The dream made absolutely no sense! After an eternity passes by, I find Kaoru, who is standing there when I start to fall. "Kaoru! Kaoru!" I scream, but he watches me fall into the deep dark hole, and that is when I wake up.

"Screaming another mans name, huh? I thought you should be screaming my name, not Kaoru's. That is pretty cold, don't you think?" I hear a voice tell me. I open my eyes and see Hikaru laying in bed next to me.

"Damn it! What the hell are you doing here?!" I exclaim. He looks at me innocently. He was waiting for me to give in and forget about it, but my question remained.

"Does it really matter?" He asks. "Hell yeah! A guy should not just walk into a girls room like that, especially not at night!" I exclaim. He scoffs.

"Don't act like you aren't the tiniest bit happy to see me lying next to you in bed." He proclaims.

"Stop acting like a narcissist for two seconds, and actually act like the equal human you are! You shouldn't just waltz into my bedroom like that, nevertheless my bed!" I say with an over-all annoyed tone in my voice.

He snuggles closer to me, close enough to plant his head in my neck. "You know you don't care Melanie." He smoothly mumbles into my neck. I remain still, but I know that chances are, he is going to continue. I soon feel a kiss on my neck. I wiggle, half out of pleasure and the other half out of unusual sensation. I feel another one, a little higher up on my neck. I wiggle again, this time a lot more pleasure pouring in from the sensation.

"Hikaru stop." I say while I was trying to get up.

"Nope." He says while slinging an arm around me. I push it off and then continue to attempt to get up from the bed, this time with more success, but Hikaru still manages to pin me down.

"Will you do me a favor and stop acting like an ass hole?" I say as sweetly as I can, while still managing to pour some venom in it.

"If I do that, then I wouldn't be doing you a favor now, would I? Besides, my mom told me I can be whatever I want, so I became an ass hole." He asks.

"No, you would be doing me a huge favor, and I doubt that you paid attention to anything she said after that." I say. I try one more time to get up, and this time I fall onto the ground, note to self: Don't roll off beds .

When I get up and regain my posture, I turn around to see Hikaru's back facing me. Gosh, he can act childish sometimes. My feet start to move over to him, even when my mind tells them no. "C'mon Hikaru, don't act like that." I say. The second I sit down next to him, Hikaru has his arms latched around me, and is holding on too tight for me to wiggle free.

"I gotcha now!" Hikaru exclaims with glee. He sounds more like a kid hugging a teddy bear rather than a teenager hugging another teenager. "Now, if you want me to let you go, you have to explain to me why you won't let me continue." He says. He sounds so immature right now, I honestly don't think that I need to take him serious.

"I won't let you continue for reasons I am pretty sure are obvious. Can you let me go now?" I respond. "Nope." he responds before he nips my neck. "Shit! That hurt! Would you stop?!" I say, growing a little angry.

"Not until you tell me why." He answers. "I don't need to answer! Can you please just let me go?" I say. He nips it again, in the same spot.

"Damn it! How about this, if you stop, I will let you stay her for the rest of the night." I say desperately. He must have been pretty satisfied with that, because he released his iron grasp on me.

I lied on the bed thinking about Hikaru the entire night. I thought about how I wanted him to continue, but at the same time I just wanted it to end. I was still mad at him for sneaking into my room, but I was also glad that he did. These contradicting emotions are giving me a massive headache.

I was turning over a lot in my restless debate with myself, so much I actually woke up Hikaru. "Melanie, are you alright?" Hikaru asked me. I let out a soft laugh.

"Nope, there is no way I am alright. I am perfectly insane, and the worst part is, I enjoy every minute of it." I answer. He lets out a chuckle.

"Me Too. Love really is a great game that two can play and both can win." He responds. I laugh.

"I don't know if that applies to everyone." I reply. We stay quiet for a minute. I contemplate the thought. Hikaru tells the truth, love is a great game where both patrons win. I feel stupid and defenseless that instead of winning, I feel like I am losing. What a messed up, stupid game.

"Melanie, why are you crying?" Hikaru asks me. I am startled, but touch my cheek and feel the salty tear on my skin. I snuggle up beside Hikaru, my way of telling my emotions I will do whatever the hell I want. It was comforting, having my head in his chest while listening to the rhythmic patterns of his breathing.

"I don't know anymore." I reply finally. He softly laughs, it was probably the answer he was expecting.

I suddenly lift my head and stare right into his eyes. Knowing he was here for me calmed me somewhat . "You have been acting strange Melanie, are you really alright?" Hikaru asks me again.

I smirk before answering, "Well, considering that I was sexually assaulted by a person close to me, I think that I am acting like a normal human." He smiles.

"It isn't assault if the other person enjoyed it." He retaliates. I scoff.

"And how do you know I enjoyed it? The fact that I was telling you to stop must have have gotten mistranslated in your messed up head." I reply.

He shook his head before responding, "You did enjoy it, and for your information, my brain is not that messed up, it is just different from all the other brains out there." I chuckle.

"You know, you said that I was close to you." He says after a second. I immediately wish I hadn't said that.

"So? What is it supposed to mean?" I ask him. He smirks.

"It means this." He replies right before flipping me over and kissing me.

"You know what? You need to stop doing that! Why do you prefer to kiss me whenever you catch me off guard?" I ask. He once again has a smile on his face, and then replies, "So you want to be kissed when you know it's about to happen?"

I immediately respond. "Yes! Wait! I mean no!"

He tsks before replying, "Oh Melanie, you want both! How greedy! You are so naughty." I could feel my face getting red. Once again, Hikaru has twisted my words around.

"You know what I mean!" I hiss.

"No, I actually don't. Care to show me?" He responds with a mischievous tone in his voice.

"No! Figure it out yourself! You are perverted enough! Forget it, can you please get off me?" I respond.

He doesn't move for a second, but then gets off and once again, turns his back to me. "You think I am _so _gullible! I am not going to fall for that again." I say while turning my back to his. We stayed there for a good three minutes. I was waiting for him to give up and apologize for his lewd actions, but it didn't happen. I slowly turn around and see that he is still facing the other side. I am going to hate myself for doing this, but I hate to see people upset. "Ok Hikaru. I was a little harsh, will you please stop?" I say as gently as I could. He turns around and stares at me, waiting for something. I sigh and kiss him on the cheek. He seems satisfied and then closes his eyes. I stare in shock at how quickly he changed his emotions. I get over it after a second, and lay in bed trying to go to sleep. For the rest of the night there were no more interruptions.

Morning

When I woke up, I realize that Hikaru wasn't in my bed anymore. I didn't have a problem with that, but I found it kind of weird that Hikaru would leave in the middle of the night. I went down stairs and no one was up, so I returned back to my room to gather my things to take to the bathroom. When I get there, I make sure I have a shirt to change into, I do _not _want a repeat of last night.

After I brush my teeth and put on my clothes, I put my hair in a bun. While I check myself out in the mirror, something on my neck grabs my attention. When I look closer, I almost scream. Hikaru better hope that he leaves before I get to him, because I am going to kill him. I take out the bun and then proceed to stomp out of the bathroom towards Hikaru's room. I don't even knock when I get to their door, I walk right on in and stop at the edge of their bed. I see both of the twins sleeping, which actually makes it a lot harder to tell them apart, since I use their voices to tell them apart. I was saved when the one on the right said "Why would you tell everyone that Hikaru?" That obviously signaled he was Kaoru.

I put on a calm face and then gently shake Hikaru awake. When his eyes open and he realizes it's me, he smiles. I on the other hand, start to choke him out of pure rage. "Do you know what you did to me?! You better start praying before I knock you into last night, where, by the way, you can see what happened!" I whisper fiercely. He takes my hands off his neck and starts coughing. Kaoru woke up in the process of me taking the life out of his brother.

"So, you knocked up Melanie? I don't know whether to say 'Nice' or to kill you." Kaoru says while rubbing his eyes awake. I almost died out of embarrassment. I really should be more specific when I speak. By now, Hikaru has caught his breath and is being careful not to shout in rage.

"Ok Melanie. I see that your mad, but can you please explain what I did? Unless if it's pregnancy, then you may want to leave now." He whispers. I bite my lip out of the anger still bottled up inside of me. I pull my hair up and show him the spot on my neck.

"You left a freakin' hickey on my neck!" I hiss at him.

Kaoru fails to control his laughter. "Hikaru! You left a hickey on her neck! Damn, you are an idiot!" Kaoru manages to say before laughing into his pillow.

"That was not me." Hikaru says. I reach out to choke him again, but this time he caught my hands.

"What the hell do you mean it wasn't you?! You snuck into my room last night!" I whisper. He rolls his eyes.

"It isn't _that_ bad." He says nonchalantly.

"You have the nerve to sexually harass me in the middle of the night and now you are saying that it isn't bad! I swear Hikaru, if you did anything while I was asleep, I will find out. When I am puking every five seconds in two months, I will make a mental note to kill you." I hiss. His eyes grow big in surprise and then I slap him.

The sound radiates through the room, and you can see my hand print on his face, almost like a tattoo. "Damn it, Melanie!" Hikaru curses. Kaoru saw the entire scene and was too busy dieing via laughter to comfort his twin.

"That was for the hickey. This is for anything you did while I was asleep." I say and then slap him again. "And this last one is for denying it! You better pray that I am not pregnant or you won't be alive to see your daughters face." I finish and then backhand him a third time. Kaoru sat in shock, the only moment in the last five minutes that he hasn't been laughing. He starts to do a slow, sarcastic clap.

"Congratulations Hikaru. You have won the title of 'Biggest Dumb Ass Of The Century'. Please stay to collect your reward, a one way ticket to The Pearly Gates!" He finishes before turning to me.

"And Melanie, congratulations! There are plenty of men at the host club that will take the role of father while the real one is permanently absent. If you want to make a good impression though, you probably want to stop sitting on Hikaru." He states. I realize that I am sitting on Hikaru's chest, holding him up by his shirt. I get off, finding that most of my rage has been released, and then make my way to the door.

I can hear sounds coming from the other side, but open the door anyway. Sitting outside is everyone, except Kyoya and Haruhi, laughing. "So, how much did you hear?" I ask. I was ready for the blackmail that may come in the near future.

"Everything after 'You have the nerve to sexually harass me in the middle of the night'." Tamaki admits.

"Did you hear me slap him?" I ask.

"All three times. I must say Mel-chan, by the sound of it, you gave him a beating! All over a hickey? It can't be that bad." Hunny exclaims. I pull up my hair and show them the giant bruise on my neck.

"The day you become a teenage girl, you will understand what a hickey means. Besides, it isn't just the hickey I am worrying about, if Liam or my dad find out, Hikaru will not live to see another day." I say. I leave out the part that the possibility of having a living human inside me, is actually freaking me out. I am too young for that.

"There is a remedy for everything! In this case, you need to leave it alone, put some make-up over it, and keep your hair down." Hunny proclaims enthusiastically. I sigh. I don't know anything about make-up. Which means I have to go back to the twins and ask for help.

"Wish me luck." I say as I turn around.

"You will need more than luck." Mori calls.

I enter the room and see Hikaru still laying in bed with his head in a pillow. Kaoru waves at me, I wave back and then proceed to point at Hikaru. Kaoru signs me to go up and hug him, but I sign that he might not let me go if I hug him. I go up to Hikaru and shake him. He groans, his childishness is unbelievable. "C'mon Hikaru, that wasn't even my hardest slap. You need to get up and help me." I say, before realizing how conceded that last part sounds.

"Why should I help you? You just slapped me three times!" He exclaims. I sigh.

"I am sorry for slapping you, but on the other hand, you kinda deserved it. If you want to live another day, you need to show me how to cover this thing with makeup." I tell him.

"You know, this story would be great blackmail. Melanie, where is Liam's room?" Kaoru asks me. I turn around and give him an icy cold stare. "I was kidding!" He quickly responds. I turn back to Hikaru, who still has his back to me.

"Fine, what do you want?" I ask. I know asking him would ultimately result in wanting to take it back, but I know he is better at make-up than anyone else in the host club. He turns around and sits up. I can see his face is quite red.

"If you give me a hug, then I will do it." He says. I roll my eyes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me three times, then I must be a clueless idiot who clearly deserves it.

I turn around and see that Kaoru has left the room. Great, just great. "All you want is a hug?" I ask suspiciously. He nods. I hope I don't regret this later. I give him a hug, and when I try to pull back, he doesn't let go. "Hikaru, can you help me now?" I ask.

"Not right now. Another five minutes." He responds. He sounds like he has to wake up in the morning, not let me go. "You really need to let me go, it's not gonna go away by itself." I say.

"No, it isn't. You will live with that thing visible for another few minutes." He tells me. I roll my eyes.

"This was not part of the deal, don't make me go to extreme measures." I say. I can almost feel the smirk radiating on his face.

"It can't possibly be that extreme." He says slyly.

"Oh really? You wanna find out? My extreme measures involve my brother in jail for the rest of his life. All it takes is one scream." I almost laugh out. He immediately lets go. I don't like using blackmail, but sometimes it really comes in handy.

"I will get the make-up kit." He exclaims as he moves towards his suitcase, and within an hour, the blemish on my neck was gone.

"Hope you learned your lesson Hikaru." I say. He mumbles something under his breath.

"Melanie, is that thing gone yet?" I hear Tamaki call through the door.

"Yea, why you ask?" I ask. Tamaki walks inside with a black dress and a cardigan. I stare at Tamaki with my eyebrows raised.

"Nothing big, we're just going to court, that's all." He says nonchalantly. I can feel my eyes get larger in surprise.

"C-court? Wh-y?" I ask.

"Nothing big, just trying to give Liam rights over you that way we can take you back to Japan." He responds. God forbid, but I am pretty sure my eyes got bigger.

"So you want me, to put on this dress, and go to court on my beautiful Saturday, when I could be going outside and playing some backyard soccer? I don't understand you guys sometimes, and on the other hand, are my parents o.k. with this?" I reply. Tamaki nods with a giant smile on his face. He probably got his lawyers in on this, maybe Kyoya's too. If he has Kyoya's, then that insures a win.

"Your mom is all for it" He responds. I didn't know how to respond but quickly remember how I don't consider him my father. Tamaki quickly shoves the dress in my arms and leaves the room. Hikaru doesn't seem shocked at all, in fact, he actually left the room so I can get dressed.

When I got downstairs, everyone was sitting on the couch, probably waiting for me. "Ready." I say as I put on my shoes.

"Is it gone now, Mel-chan?" Hunny screams from across the room.

"What is gone?" Liam asks while standing up and staring daggers at Hikaru. Kyoya, Tamaki, and Haruhi clamp Hunny's mouth shut.

"Hunny, would you shut the hell up!" Kaoru yells at him. Mori starts to walk over to Kaoru, but then stops when Hunny bursts into tears.

"Kaoru yelled at me and said bad words!" He howled in his childish voice. Mori rolled his eyes, but responds.

"Mitsukuni, you really should think before you speak, and you were also saying some pretty nasty things to Hikaru that one day, remember?" I couldn't believe the scene I was witnessing right in front of me, they were acting so childish.

"Don't worry about it Liam, it's... a girl thing, and Hunny, life will go on, now come on." I answer, trying my hardest to cover up what _actually _happened. Liam shook his head, he did _not _want to mess with a girls personal issues, he didn't even ask why I confided in Hunny with my problem.

When I stand up, everyone is looking at me. "What? You guys are just staring at me, do I have something on my face?" I ask them. Everyone scratches their heads, except Haruhi, who looks like she is on the verge of giggling uncontrollably.

"Oh nothing." Tamaki responds before shuffling out the door with everyone else right at his heels. I wondered why they acted like that, but shook it off. When I entered the car, I thought of a crucial obstacle in our quest.

"Hey, do any of you guys even know English?" I ask. Everyone stares at me for a second before bursting out into laughs. I must have a really bad sense of humor, because I didn't understand the joke.

"Of course we do! It is part of middle school standards! Even if it wasn't all of us have went for whatever reason to America." Hikaru manages to get out in between laughs.

I am extremely nervous. I just can't help but think about all the never-ending possibilities that can happen. What will happen? Will we somehow manage to get everyone back to Japan? Or will we crumble and fall in defeat, leaving me me to stay with my family? I think about earlier when I asked Tamaki if my parents are o.k. with it, he said my mom was, she probably only said yes because she doesn't want to see me suffer though, but he didn't ask my dad. What if he's there and he isn't planning on letting me leave?

I try not to think about that, but I always wander back to the same direction, and slowly, I start to agree. For all I know, everyone can turn on me in a matter of seconds, isn't that why I tried to shut them out in the first place? So they don't hurt me like my father did? Then why am I being an idiot and hurting myself like this? A few seconds pass where my mind stays silent, no hustle of restless thoughts. I know why, because these guys are my family, my soul, my heart, and whatever my heart says, I must do. Right now, it is telling me to go back, back to where I came from, back to the shenanigans of daily life, back to where I have been the happiest. I smile, I know one more. I want to be back, more than anything, in Hikaru's arms.

A:N Hola! I am back after a ten day vacation! So, I hope you liked this chapter and I hope you will like all to come! Love you guys, especially the ones that review! Whenever I hear how someone enjoyed my story, it really makes me happy! (And I doubt anybody wants for whatever reason to make me unhappy, RAWR IF YOU DO!)


	12. The Final Judgement

Why Me?

Chapter 12: The Final Judgment

Melanie's Point Of View

Half an hour later, we were at the court house. I wasn't very eager to enter, but I could tell that the homesick host club was, they wanted to get this over with and go back to Japan.

As we entered the court room, it seemed every one was preparing for the case. It wasn't too early in the morning, but I could see the droopy eyes of five lawyers, sitting on the table that is on the right side of the courtroom, each holding giant mugs of coffee. I looked over to the other side of the court and see another table with another lawyer, sitting next to a tall man who I couldn't identify from the back, but the back of his head looks oddly familier. I walk to the table on the right, and sit down next to Liam.

I turn around and face Haruhi. "This must be good for you, you get to witness a court case!" I say.

She smiles before answering. "Yes, it's going to be a difficult journey to try to be as good as my mom, but if I work hard, I can definitely do it!" She replies.

"Unless you open your eyes about Tamaki first." I say underneath my breath.

"What about Tamaki?" She asks. I giggle, while Mori, Kyoya, and Kaoru chuckle.

"Oh nothing." I say while facing back to the front of the courtroom. She really is a bit clueless, which is shocking, considering how smart she is academically.

It takes at least another hour for the trial to start, where I find out very quickly that waiting is something the host club can't handle very well. They were poking me, whispering my name, tickling me from behind, all to which Liam looks back and gives them a death stare.

After the umpteenth poke, I heard a loud bang from the front of the room, the host club responded by automatically being quiet and sitting up straight. "All rise for the honorable Judge Ian McDonald." A security guard calls out from the side. I stand up, but quickly sit down again. The judge was already sitting in his seat, waiting for us to. He did not look a day over twenty-one and seemed like he was about to burst with either excitement or the over-whelming urge to use the bathroom.

"Today's case, the guardianship over Melanie Yuri Misaki Sakura Hikari Smallwood." The judge said, mispronouncing every one of my middle names. "Who's first? Eenie meenie miney you." He said while pointing at the lawyer sitting next to me.

He makes his way up to the middle of the court and clears his throat before speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present you with sixteen year old Melanie Smallwood. Now, Ms. Smallwood over here has been the victim of a tragic past, one that shall not be discussed in the presence of this court." I sneak a glance at Tamaki, who turns his head nervously. "When her mother moved to Japan, she went with her. There, she found a wondrous group of young men, who have acted as sort of a therapy to her. She over time has even developed something of a brother-like attraction to them, an added bonus to her recovery. The news of the move back to America, shocked her, she didn't want to leave." The lawyer starts, he takes a deep breath before continuing.

"These men," He motions towards the host club, "love this girl so much, they followed her to the U.S. just to bring her back. She agrees, her brother is of legal age to move out. Why keep her in an unhappy environment and torture her for another two years? I see no reason to keep her trapped in a place where she obviously doesn't want to be." He finishes. I was unsure whether to clap or sit there, it was my first time in a courtroom. The lawyer returns to the spot next to me and I give him a nod of approval, he did an excellent job getting the point across.

The opposing side had their lawyer come up. He also cleared his throat before speaking, it must be a lawyer thing. "Melanie Smallwood may be old enough to make decisions, but she does not have the maturity or responsibility to decide something as important as where her home of rest is." The lawyer starts. I turn around and see my mom, Stacy, and Mia sitting in the audience bench, right next to Hunny. I give a slight wave to them. I turn back around as I hear the lawyer, start to speak again.

"Her brother may be old enough to live on his own, but can he handle a teenage girl? Where would the funds for that come from? I don't believe that 'You miss your friends' is a good enough reason to move halfway across the world, neither is 'I dislike my father'. What's next, 'I want to change my name'?" I stand up.

"Can I actually do that? I don't exactly like my last name, it sounds disgusting." I ask the judge. I hear giggles coming from behind me, and I can see Liam doing a face palm from the corner of my eye.

"Would you sit down? Sure, do whatever you want with your name." The judge asks.

I sit back down, turn around and whisper to everyone "From now on, my last name is no longer Smallwood, it is Suzuki, ok?" I get plenty of nods, so I turn back around and sit for another hour, listening to the attorneys go back and forth.

"Ms. Smallwood," The judge starts.

"Suzuki!" I call out. He sighs and shakes his head.

"Ms. _Suzuki, _can you please come to the stand?" He asks me. I stand up, pull down my dress, and walk over to the stand. One of the lawyers get up and asks me questions, I answer truthfully, mostly because they made me swear that oath.

It was pretty smooth, the host club had seemed to fall asleep, but after a while, I recognized that the questions started to get more personal. "What is the exact relationship that you have with these boys?" The opposing attorney asks me.

"They are my best friends, my family." I answer diligently.

"Really? Are you particularly deep with a certain one of them?" He asks me. I stutter and stumble over words. I see Hikaru and Kaoru tug at one of the lawyers, he soon stands up and confidently says "Objection! What does this have to do with anything?" He asks.

The questioning prosecutor lifts a finger, ready to explain himself. "Well, Ms. Suzuki wants to move in with her brother to get away from her father. I am simply trying to see how emotionally scarred she is." The judge looked confused, so he allowed it to keep going. "My question still stands Ms." The prosecutor calls to me. I scratch my head nervously, but I look over at the club who are signaling me to continue.

"Yes." I answer. "Is he a reason you want to go back? Or is that just a ploy to get away from your father, trying to use it all against him. The poor man is sitting over there worried sick over you, he doesn't want to see you leave, he just wants to be a family again, to forget about actions done in the past." I look over and see my father sitting at the table. I knew that back of that head looked too familiar.

"Next question please." I say while ducking my head.

"Answer the question Ms." The judge urges me. I shake my head. "Your not giving the jury very much to make a decision off of, right now, I am willing to bet the prosecution is winning." I stay ducked, I can not look at that face. "Well your honor, she is breaking the oath, does that mean we win?" The prosecutor asks.

"Well, that's for the jury to decide. Rece-" The judge starts, but before he slams his hammer down, there is a yell from across the room.

"No!" I hear Hikaru call.

"What do you mean no? She isn't cooperating with us, the jury needs to go make a decision!" The prosecutor says.

"I have a reason for her to come back!" Hikaru continues. I see Tamaki starts to tug on Hikaru's suit, but he pulls back.

"Well then, go ahead!" The judge exclaims, he seems to be rooting for my team, I'm pretty sure they aren't supposed to do that, but in this case I am not complaining.

"What could possibly be so important?!" The prosecutor yells out, obviously wanting to get this over with. I slightly peek up at Hikaru, we make eye contact, and he is flashing me a look that is apologetic. I am confused, what is he about to do?

"Melanie's pregnant." He says to the judge. I can see the shock wash over everybody's face, especially my mom's. The host club is staring up at Hikaru with the most aghast looks on his face. Slowly everyone turns to me. I am still paralyzed by the sudden confession.

"So, I am guessing you are the... father?" The judge asks with his face in his palm.

"Yes, and I don't know how the jury will be able to sleep tonight knowing that they separated a family!" He screams out before sitting down.

The room was completely silent, I was still letting everything sink in. I turn my face towards the judge. "Ms. Suzuki, is this true? Are you really pregnant?" He asks me.

"At the age of sixteen?! She doesn't know anything about family!" The prosecutor shouts from his seat next to my father, who I still refuse to make eye contact with.

"Would you shut-up! Stop trying to tear apart their family!" The judge yells right back. That last comment got on my nerves, I do know what a family is, and if I have to do this to keep mine together, then so be it.

I face the room. "Yes." I calmly, yet confidently reply to everyone, mostly the jury. Within seconds there was a frenzy around the room, Hikaru and I just created the controversy of the day. I felt sorry for the judge, he was probably straining his voice yelling so much. "Would everyone calm down!? Order in the court! Shut the hell up!" He yelled and then slammed his mallet, bringing everyone's attention back to the matter of importance.

"Ok, this technically isn't official until you take a pregnancy test, so would you take one?" The judge asks me. There is the obstacle in our path, I knew this was too easy. I nod anyway, and am soon shown off the balcony, out of the courtroom, to the bathroom. I sit outside for a second until the security guard came back with a small box. I take it and go into the bathroom. For the first few minutes, I am too shocked to do anything, but then I decide that the best thing to do is pray that it is defective.

So after I pray, I do the deed.

I come back out five minutes later, holding the test in my hands. It wasn't finished yet, but I figured that by the time I got it to somebody, it would show the results. I decide that if I am going to walk around with that thing in my hand, I would put it in a paper bag or something, so I go back to the bathroom and take the trash bag out.

I try to find the court room again, and by now this entire scenario was getting more and more confusing. I ran into a lady who asked me what is in my hand. I tell the lady that it's my pregnancy test, and she tells me that she has been looking everywhere for me. When she asks me what court room I'm from, I answer and she leaves without another word. I return to the courtroom. The hosts are looking at me expectantly and I shrug my arms. I sit with the lawyers and Liam. Liam seems to look a lot less... violent than I imagined him to be. He looked calm, I expect that someone explained the situation to him, well, at least the part where I'm _not _pregnant.

A couple minutes later, the lady comes in with a little slip and hands it to the judge. He clears his throat quite loudly, and then reads off the little slip of paper. "The results of the test have come back, it seems that Ms. Suzuki over here is in fact pregnant, six weeks to be exact." He says, adding something for the jury in the end. My mouth drops open. That is not possible. I turn around and stab a death stare at Hikaru, who is trying to convince me that he didn't do anything.

I start to hyperventilate from shock, all that confidence from earlier has disappeared. All of a sudden, Liam speaks up. "I just thought about it, you know where you were six weeks ago Mel? You were in Italy, with a group of guys, _sleeping in the same house as them._" He slowly turned around and got up, if I didn't pull him back down, Hikaru would have been dead by now.

"Nothing happened!" I exclaim. It seems like I was trying to convince myself that more than Liam though.

"Yea!" Hunny pipes up. "Nothing happened! Nothing has ever happened, except for the hickey situation..." Hunny continues before having everyone's hand clamp over his mouth.

"Goodness gracious Melanie, You know how bad this is going to look on business! The possible future head of my company, pregnant at sixteen! You can ruin everything for us!" My mom explains from the sideline, while in the middle of a meltdown. I slowly turn back around at Liam, who looks like he is about to commit first-degree murder.

"Did he say... hickey?" Liam slowly growls. I sink in my seat, while doing a face palm. I have went from shocked, to confused, to violent, and now to embarrassment, all in the same five minutes. Maybe I am pregnant, so many changing emotions can't possibly be normal. Liam's question lingers in the air, but it stays there unanswered.

I sit in silence for the next forty-five minutes while I wait for the jury to come back, Hikaru and Kaoru don't though."This only means one thing, gotta get married. Kaoru! I need you to buy the shiniest, most expensive ring you can find!" Hikaru exclaims. I shoot him daggers. That is _not _funny.

"Cut it out, Hikaru. I am too young for marriage, I am to young to be pregnant!" I retaliate back at him. I start to hyperventilate again as I say 'Pregnant', I don't have time to completely blow up though, because the jury came back in.

Everyone was on the edge of there seats, I didn't want to stay here, especially not now that my father has word of my dilemma. "In the case of young Ms. Melanie Small- I mean, Suzuki, has the jury come to a decision?" The judge asks. One man stands up and clears his throat.

"Yes we have. We have decided that she may move to Japan, under the parental guidance of Liam Smallwood." He speaks loud and clearly.

Immediately, everyone stands up and shouts in victory, except for my mom, who is still very confused. "Do you hear that? Your coming back!" Hikaru shouts from behind the railing, before grabbing me and giving me a kiss. I blush furiously at the sudden motion, and turn back to the judge, who raises his eyebrows at the sudden action.

"I guess the two really are in love. Young man, you better put a ring on it, you hear?" He says. Hikaru nods with a giant grin on his face, while I slither down my chair in embarrassment. Everything I say is always tossed out the window, I might as well keep my mouth shut.

I look over at the other table, I see the still faces of my father and his lawyer, I knew underneath the calm facade, my dad is pissed off. I hear the loud bang of the mallet, and then hear the muffled sound of the judge try to say something. I took a wild guess and just went along with 'Case dismissed'. I almost jumped over the bar, but then remembered my current situation. I walk towards the gate and stride down the aisle.

The second I exit that door, I breath a sigh of release and happiness. I wasn't going to be stuck here anymore. I feel arms pick me up, when I turn around, there are the silly grins of Hikaru and Kaoru. I rolled my eyes, they never get tired of doing that. They actually carried me all the way to the front of the building, but I had to say no when they wanted to bring me down the stairs. After a few minutes of trying to find the car, we finally left the dreaded courthouse.

"Where is dad?" I ask my mom, who has managed to calm down.

"He is staying there for a couple extra minutes." She responds. I let loose a silent sigh of relief before gazing out the window.

"So, guess this... situation means you two are a couple now?" Tamaki asks me.

"I don't know, I see no point in dating in high school, ask me after college." I respond. I can feel the disappointment radiate off Hikaru. "I am going to take that test again, I prayed that the tester was defective, turns out God loves me, because there is no way that I am pregnant." I say. Everyone looks at each other, and then shrugs.

We stop at a pharmacy and pick up a test, which wasn't the best experience for me. The lady was eying me and was shocked when I paid for the test. I felt awkward when she started whispering to co-workers.

When we get home, I am starving. I didn't want to put off the test, but an empty stomach is way worse than not knowing the truth for an extra five seconds. I sit down at the table with my sandwich and was about to take my first bite when Stacy and Mia popped up. They sat down at the opposite side of the table, and stared at their laps with depressed faces.

"What's wrong guys?" I ask.

They are reluctant to ask for a second, but then proceed anyway. "Are you really going back?" The sudden question startles me.

I nod. The twins looked teary eyed.

"So your just going to leave us?" Mia asks. I am taken aback, I never thought of it that way. I am being so selfish, in my eyes I am staying with my family, in their eyes, I am moving across the world again, after being here for only a couple days. I don't dare say anything.

"Do you love him?" Stacy asks me. My head automatically shoots up. My eyes grow huge, and I stumble upon what to say. "How about I put it like this, can you imagine life without him?" Stacy asks me. I feel exactly how I did earlier when I didn't want to answer that lawyers question. Flustered, confused, immature, a girl who doesn't want to face her own problems.

I simply lay my eyes on my sisters. They are acting so mature, so responsible.

"Who is 'He'?" I ask trying to put off the answer. They shake their heads, they probably want to whack me, since they know I know who 'He' is.

"You know who, the guy who kissed you earlier. He has red hair, a twin, and smells really good." Stacy replies. I stare at them suspiciously, it is nice to know that she spends time sniffing Hikaru.

Now that I think about it, why would they want to know if I love Hikaru?

"Is there a particular reason you would ask such a question?" I ask. They tilt their heads a bit.

"We just want to see how guilty we should feel for trying to keep you from going back." Mia responds. I sigh.

"I can't explain how I feel about him. Everything is so screwed up and contradicting in my mind. It is like a roller-coaster, it goes up and down and it never seems to stop." I answer. The twins shake their heads in unison. I knew that they were about to take reality and hit me upside the head with it.

"You see sis, you don't want to admit it, you are scared he is going to hurt you, so you are rejecting it externally. Wanna know something though? He isn't dad! He isn't going to run off with some random girl! I just can't sit here and watch you push this guy away, especially since you obviously love him!" Mia exclaims, she sounds a bit mad that I am putting the question off. Stacy nods her head in agreement, while I shake mine. It can't be true, I promised myself that it will never be true, but slowly, I see that it is. I think that I'm pushing him away, but in reality, I already let him in, he _has_ been in for a long time.

"So Yuri, our question still remains, do you love him?" Stacy asks. I am ready to accept it, to stand up by myself and admit that my 'Down with love' proclamation is over. A smile forms on my face.

"Yes, I am irrevocably, head-over-heels in love with him."

A:N: Hola peeps! Hope you liked this chapter! (Cause I loved writing it!) Read and Review, and I'd like to thank Pretend it was just a dream (Formerly AMTdftba) for proofreading! Again, hope you liked it and can't wait for chapter 13! Love ya guys! (And Sarah, stop taunting her like that!)


	13. A Never-Ending Worry

Why Me?

Chapter 13:A Never-Ending Worry

Melanie's Point Of View

I am happy, yet scared at the same time. Why? I am happy because I have great sisters, who have helped me realize the love of my life. I am scared because I am in the bathroom... taking a pregnancy test. Not exactly the best feeling for a sixteen year old.

I hear a knock on the door. "Melanie, are you in there?" Haruhi asks.

My head shoots up and I stare at the door until another knock is heard. "Yeah, it's me." I reply.

"May I come in?" She asks me.

I stay quiet, but answer a second later. "Sure." The door slowly opens and Haruhi comes in, her brown orbs double in size as she sees me sitting on the floor, holding the test in my hands.

"Is it... positive?" She asks. I shake my head.

"I don't know," I answer. Haruhi comes and sits down next to me.

We sit in silence for a few seconds before Haruhi speaks up. "What's wrong?" She asks. I sigh, and I try, but fail to put a smile on my face.

"I'm scared that I am actually pregnant." I admit. Haruhi grins a bit.

"Something tells me that isn't the only thing you're scared about." She replies. I rest my face in my palm for a second, arguing with myself over if I should tell her. I didn't want to, but I feel like I can trust Haruhi.

"I am scared that if it is positive, how Hikaru will react." I say through my hands. I hear Haruhi laugh, to which I pull my face out of my hands and stare at her confused, what did I say that is so funny?

"You are probably wondering why I'm laughing." She says. I nod.

"I am laughing because even after you admit you love him, and it's no secret that he loves you, that you think Hikaru will run off or something." She responds. I slowly nod, that is kinda what I meant when I said that.

"He's sixteen! He doesn't know a thing about fatherhood!" I exclaim.

"And you know what about motherhood?" She asks me.

I was about to answer, but stop for two reasons: One, she's right. Two, "How did you know I admitted that?" I ask.

Haruhi rubs her head nervously, as smart as she is, she didn't think that out very far. "I may or may not have been eavesdropping on your conversation, but it wasn't my fault! I saw Kaoru and Tamaki in the hallway outside the dining room, and when I asked them what they were doing, they shushed me and told me to listen. I must say; your sisters sure act mature for two ten-year-old's." She admits. I shake my head; I expected that from Kaoru and Tamaki, but not Haruhi.

"Anyway," she starts, "back to the subject. I am going to ask you this question and I need you to answer me honestly. Ok?" She asks. I nod my head. Haruhi looks me straight in the eyes and asks the question.

"Do you really think that Hikaru is going to leave you if this test comes out positive?" I sit and stare at her stone face. I feel like crying, because I know the answer.

"Yes," I reply. Haruhi shakes her head and removes her gaze from me.

"Then you need to tell yourself right now that you never want to see him again and you should go back to your own world where you never loved him." She says while getting up.

I stare at her shocked. I did not expect her to say that. "I am scared that he is gonna crawl into his shell, and is going to childishly reject it!" I exclaim. Haruhi turns around and stares at me.

"Hikaru may act like a child, but I know he will never act like one in an urgent situation, especially not when it involves a loved one." She says icily. I have never seen this side of Haruhi before. I stare down at my lap silently.

Haruhi comes over to me and she tilts my head that way I am looking at her. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time, and this time answer _honestly_. Do you really think Hikaru will run away?" She asks. I stare at her blankly, but then I realize what she is doing. She is really trying to make me see what she sees. She sees something in my eyes that is completely different than what I say. I slowly shake my head. Haruhi starts to smile again. "You're so stubborn." She says while sitting down. _You're one to talk_, I think. Haruhi and Tamaki like each other and everybody knows it. She tries to hide it, but I have seen them hug for a second too long, or stare at each other from across the music room, and the way she denies it only makes me more sure of it.

She takes my hand and looks me in the eyes one more time. "If this test does come out positive, I have _not a single doubt in my mind_ that Hikaru will be more than happy to accept it." She says before giving me a hug. I hug her back, everyone in the world needs a friend like Haruhi.

We sit in silence for a few more second before Haruhi speaks up again. "I think I know what your problem is, you're stressed out from everything that is happening." She says. I nod; these past few days have been a roller coaster. "How about this, I'm usually not one to do things like this, but as a friend, I need to do something. Let's have a girl day tomorrow! Just you and me, and no one else!" She suggests. I think about it, a girl day would be nice. I need a break from all the boy trouble I've been having.

"Sure, sounds great." I answer. Haruhi gives me one last reassuring look before we hear a beeping sound. We both look down at the ground in between us and there is the test with my answer on it. Haruhi and I let smiles slowly slip onto our faces.

Liam's Point Of View

What a day. I am now the legal guardian of my sister, I found out she is pregnant because of some idiot, and also found out that exact same idiot gave her a hickey. I am ready to kill every male being in this household. Why can't Mel be a bit more responsible? This is all giving me a headache, time to get some water. I walk downstairs and get a bottle of water out of the cupboard. The chef and the maids looked at me like I was crazy, but I ignored them and then went into the dining room.

I sit down in a chair for literally five seconds before Mel appeared around the corner. "Hey Mel," I say. She turns around and smiles at me. "Hey Liam," She says with a hint of delight in her voice.

"So, how is the pregnancy thing going?" I ask. Her aura automatically changes to something a bit more towards fear, and she eyes me suspiciously.

"And why do you want to know?" She asks.

"I'm your brother; I don't think it's a crime to know how your life is going." I say as I roll my eyes. She sighs.

"Either way it goes, you're gonna go on a rampage." She says. I scoff; my sister has no faith in me.

"I will not!" I exclaim with a hint of irritation showing up in my voice, while standing up in protest.

"Thank you for proving my point, you can't even keep a normal dynamic level five minutes into a conversation." She tells me. I can feel my blood boiling, I ask one simple question and now she has turned it into an argument. I try to calm down, at least for the sake of my sanity.

"You really are one to talk." I mumble under my breath as I sit back down. Her eyes get big in astonishment and I can see her dig her nails into her side.

"What are you trying to say?" She asks me.

"I thought it was pretty obvious! You must be pregnant; there is no way someone gets so emotional in such a short amount of time!" I retaliate, all the effort I put into trying to be a bit more peaceful has disappeared. I have never been so mad at my sister; it is just everything that has been happening, everything that I have been so upset about, come back to me.

While I was thinking, Melanie looked like she was about to bust my head open. "So what if I was!?" She screamed at me. I let my eyes rise in shock, I am pretty sure she just admitted it.

"Well then I'm going upstairs and I'm going to beat that ass hole! First he sexually harasses you and now this! You better be getting married to that idiot or he will be on my hit list!" I shout at her.

"You are not going to even think about that!" She retaliates. I scoff.

"You are too young to be a mom! And besides, who's gonna stop me? I believe that my I believe that my niece can live without a real father!" I yell.

Her eyes get huge and time stops for a second. Melanie's mouth is open and her face is in obvious shock, but she soon comes up to me, and slaps me right across the face. The pain shoots through my cheek, but I don't dare put my hand up to meet it. Melanie's eyes are full of tears and I can barely hear her whisper her next line. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she asks me. I stay silent; I am frozen by the sheer anger pouring out of her. "I will _not_ let this child, be raised without a real father, not like we were." She finishes, keeping her gaze on me for a moment, but then running up stairs into her room. I hear a door slam and then feel the rest of the pain shoot through my body, stopping at my heart.

After a minute, I hear the door open again, and then Melanie is standing in the door way with a piece of paper in her hands. She throws it at me, and then leaves again. I open the folded paper, realize that it has some of the world's messiest handwriting, and after I wipe my face, I then start to read it.

Names for Future Kids  
Girls:  
Michelle  
Sophia  
Charlotte  
Dawn  
Elizabeth

Boys:  
Ethan  
Mason  
Henry  
Jackson  
Liam (After big brother!)

I re-read the list at least another ten times, each time getting more a more shocked with the last name on the list, mine. For all these years, Melanie has kept a list of what to name her children, and she wants to name one after me. Now I feel like an ass, but at the same time, I have this nagging feeling that I know I'm right.

I rest my face in my palm, but only sit like that for a second before, a certain red-headed individual comes waltzing in. "What's wrong with you?" He asks me. I remove my hands and stare at Kaoru. "

What did you do?" I ask. He grins.

"Well, you found me out right away, it wasn't exactly hard to hear you and Melanie fighting you know." He answers. I return my hands to their previous position. Great, now the entire house knows of our dilemma.

"So, you heard everything?" I ask. Kaoru shakes his head.

"Everything, and by the way, I would definitely like for my niece to have a father, thank you very much." He responds. I sigh; all my previous anger has vanished as I read the piece of paper.

"I'm sorry about that; I am just a bit stressed out." I admit. Kaoru grabs a bottle of water and sits down in front of me.

"I don't think your problem is stress, I think that you have problems with Hikaru, the pregnancy, and Melanie growing up." Kaoru says before taking a chug of his water. I cringe at the last one.

"In my defense, she is only sixteen, she isn't near grown up." I reply.

"That may be true, but still, she is getting there. Anyway, problem number one, Hikaru." Kaoru responds with a serious tone. "You don't like Hikaru, why?" He asks me. I shake my head, where do I start?

"Well, I don't like how-" I start before I am cut off by Kaoru.

"That isn't what is actually bugging you. What you don't like about him is the fact that he is the father, correct?" Kaoru asks me. I sigh, but nod.

Kaoru grins; he knows how the rest of this conversation is going to pan out. "You think he is too immature, irresponsible, spoiled, just not fit to take care of a child. While all of those may be true, I truly believe that he will snap out of it and take care of his child, especially if it ends up like him, then they will probably be playing pranks on Melanie by the time the little one turns six months." He admits. I couldn't help but laugh at that last comment, chances are, it'll be true. "Besides, Hikaru is so in love with her, I caught him looking at engagement rings the other day." Kaoru gets out before we burst into a fit of laughter. I will admit that kind of tilted Hikaru a bit more towards my good side.

"Okay, next problem, Melanie growing up. In your eyes, she is still your little sister, not the lady she really is." He starts. I shake my head.

"She will always be my little sister." I say. Kaoru nods.

"While that may be true, you are missing the point. What I am saying is, is that Melanie is growing up. You need to loosen up on your sister-complex, she can handle herself a bit more than she could yesterday, and tomorrow she will be able to take on a bigger challenge than today. Do you see what I mean?" He asks me. I stare blankly at him, while he releases a sigh. "You and your sister are so stubborn. I need to pound this through your thick head some way though." He mumbles. I raise an eyebrow and am about to speak, but I'm cutoff by Kaoru once again. "Don't even; I don't want to argue right now. You need to get over it though Liam, if you don't, it's going to hurt when Melanie gets married or goes to college." He says. I roll my eyes, but I somewhat see what he is saying.

"So, you want me to back off on the over-protectiveness?" I ask. Kaoru nods.

"Now that that's over with, that brings me to the last reason, the pregnancy. I'm honestly not worried about it, you know why?" He asks me. I shake my head; I don't think we would be talking if I knew why. "Because she has everyone around her to support her. The host club will be more than happy to spoil the kid, especially Tamaki, even though I doubt Hikaru will be too happy about that." He says. We both laugh, I can just imagine Tamaki doting on my niece and Hikaru whacking him upside the head for it. "So, are you still worried?" Kaoru asks me. I nod.

"Of course! I feel a bit more reassured, but not completely over it." I exclaim. Kaoru looks a bit surprised at first, but then rolls his eyes.

"At least this wasn't a complete waste of time." He says before getting up. I sit for a moment but I speak up before Kaoru can leave the room.

"Thanks Kaoru, I needed that." I call. Kaoru gives me a smile, and then turns the corner.

Melanie's Point Of View, Next Morning

"Haruhi, are you ready to go?" I ask as I knock on her door. She opens the door and there is Haruhi. My eyes automatically shoot open. She is wearing a dress with a floral print on it, she is wearing a pair of flats, and her hair has three barrettes in it.

"Anything wrong?" She asks me. I shake my head.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just that this is the first time I have ever seen you dressed like a _girl_." I answer. She chuckles.

"What can I say, cross-dressing runs in the family." I put a grin on my face, after seeing her father for the first time; I definitely know that's not a lie.

We walk downstairs and find that no one is in the living room. "Damn it! If no one is here, how am I supposed to tell them?" I ask Haruhi while I put on a pair of shoes.

"I thought you told Hikaru last night?" She responds. I shake my head.

"Nope he was sleeping already." I answer. Haruhi rolls her eyes.

"Leave it to Hikaru to go to sleep early and wake up late." Haruhi mumbles. I sigh, I guess I will have to wait until we get back to tell him.

We walk outside and see that the car is already started, and waiting for Haruhi and I to enter. We get in and after I tell the driver to go to the movie theater, I recognize something oddly familiar about his voice.

"Tamaki! What the hell are you doing?" I ask. He turns around and stares at me with his charming smile.

"Oh nothing, just practicing my driving that's all, why do you ask?" He asks me. I roll my eyes, I should have seen this coming, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the hosts jump out of the trunk.

"I can't wait to get there Melanie!" Haruhi suddenly pipes up. I raise my eyebrows, she is acting kinda strange.

"Why would you say that?" I ask. Haruhi smiles at me kindly.

"Because, the smiles that I will see today are going to be priceless! After all the pain you've been through, it's always a joy to see you grin." She exclaims. I will admit that I am very touched, but before I get the chance to say anything, Tamaki opens his mouth.

"Why don't you ever say stuff like that to me, Haruhi? I am your daddy! I love you too!" He whines. I can see a vein pop out of Haruhi's head.

"Senpai, do me a favor and shut the hell up. This is why I don't say anything to you! And for the last time, you are not my dad!" She exclaims with great annoyance.

I can hear Tamaki cry in the front, and I start to worry for my safety since he is driving the car after all, but I slowly get over it once I think about what Haruhi said. '_After all the pain you've been through, it's always a joy to see your grin_.' I replay the scene over and over in my head. I want to cry, which I know isn't new for me, but what Haruhi said really makes me happy. I wouldn't replace that for anything. Haruhi, no, the host club truly is priceless.

A/N: Yay! Another chapter done! Sorry that it took so long, I had a lot of things come up, and I am just plain lazy sometimes. I hope you liked this chapter, R&R, and don't forget to hit the Favorite Story button. It's bellow here, I don't exactly know where, but somewhere underneath here, maybe by the review box, where you can type a review and make my day! Anything else... Oh yea! I want to thank Pretend It Was Just A Dream for proofreading! Now, I believe that is all!

P.S. How many of you died when you read the fight between Mel and Liam? I am genuinely curious...

P.P.S. Even if you are reading this five years from now, you can still review. And hi people who are reading this five years from now!


	14. Mistakes, Questions, and Differences

Why Me?

Chapter 14: Mistakes, Questions, and Differences

Melanie's Point Of View

"Tamaki, I am dead serious when I say this. If you don't get off of me right now, I will kick your ass back to the house, got it?" I tell Tamaki, whose eyes start to form tears and then finally lets go of me.

"Love you!" I quickly say, and ruffle the blonde's hair. His face automatically turns back into one of a child: happy, over-excited, and completely lovable. (Just don't tell Hikaru I said that!)

"C'mon Melanie, we aren't gonna get anywhere if you keep messing around with Tamaki-senpai. And Senpai, go back home, we don't need you to look around." Haruhi addresses. I look over at Tamaki, who looks less than pleased that his 'daughter' is telling him to get lost. "Tamaki, just go buy some ice-cream," I whisper to him. I don't get a chance to look at his expression because he already bolted into the building.

"Well, I guess I just solved that problem," I tell Haruhi. She rolls her eyes.

"Senpai is a walking problem; you can't just get rid of him that easily." Haruhi responds. I stare at my watch; we have about an hour until the movie starts, so Haruhi and I take our time as we make our way to the doors. Haruhi starts to jump up and down in anticipation, something I she doesn't do unless she is very excited. I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Haruhi, calm down," I say.

"I can't! I love American culture! Well, I really love all cultures; I just love this one the most because I get a chance to see where you grew up!" She exclaims over-excitedly.

"This is pretty accurate, but you're missing a cheeseburger and a football if you want a common day, people don't watch movies on a regular basis." I explain to her. She calms down a bit knowing that this is more of a treat thing, and by the time we get inside, she isn't jumping at all.

It is extremely crowded, probably due to a new movie being released today. I hold onto Haruhi's hand, getting a few looks to come our way, but I don't care, I know that I'm not on that side of the street.

We slowly make our way to the concession stand, bumping into a few people along the way. It turns out that there was actually a debate between a customer and the cashier over the expiration date of a coupon, so I just give up on getting snacks right now.

We sit down on a bench. I start fiddling with my bracelet before I realize something. I recognize the charms around it, and instantly smile. This was the bracelet that Hikaru gave me so long ago. I examine each charm carefully, taking time to really look at all the exquisite detail, but when I get to the American flag one, I see that there is something engraved in it.

_'Whenever you wear this,'_

I check the back of the charm to the right to see if there were more words, and sure enough, there were.

_'It speaks louder than words' _

I check the next charm, and there was even more words. Haruhi starts to watch me now.

_'About how much you love me,'_

I go to the next one, about this time, I start to ponder how he did this. It was not here when I first got it.

_'Even if you don't want to admit it.'_

I laugh. Of course he would put that on there. I turn the bracelet and flip over the next charm.

_'Remember that I will always love you.'_

I start to shed a few tears, I know Hikaru does.

_'Love, Hikaru.'_

Great, now I'm crying in the middle of the theater. I wipe my eyes on my sleeves, but the tears don't stop. I can't even describe how much I love that idiot!

I keep messing with the bracelet, re-reading the message over and over again, and to my displeasure, I broke the bracelet. I'm upset about my stupidity, but I take it and put it in my pocket.

After a while, I realize that we aren't going to have any seats if we don't hurry up. "Haruhi, I will go get the snacks, you just go and find us two seats." I tell her before I go back into the havoc.

I push my way to the front, ignoring the rude comments, until I run into someone. "Watch where you're going!" I hear the tall figure say while turning around. If it wasn't for his sudden change in attitude, I would've died right there from embarrassment. He gives me a charming smile, one that reminds me of Tamaki's. "I am so sorry for my rude behavior, please excuse me." He smoothly apologizes. I feel butterflies in my stomach, something I haven't felt for quite a long time.

"No, I ran into you, it is completely my fault." I respond. He stares at me, as if inspecting my features.

"Hmm, being humble suits you quite well, I find it cute." He tells me. I flush a bright pink. The last thing I needed from him right now is compliments, but I was still stuck on the way he made his voice seem like velvet.

"Excuse me; I don't know what's wrong with me today, my name's Andrew Price. How have you been today?" He asks me with a bright smile.

I stare at him like he is speaking Vietnamese, I probably looked like an idiot, but while I was acting like I didn't have a brain, I studied his feature. He had dark brown hair, and striking ice blue eyes. He was quite tall, around Mori's height. When he waves his hand in front of my face, I finally manage to slip some words out. "I've been fine." I barely whisper. He stares at me.

"Are you sure? You seem lost." He tells me. I shake my head.

"No, I'm fine. I just want to get some popcorn." I say ushering him up to the cashier, who stared at us oddly. "Small popcorn." I tell her quickly, I wanted to get away from this guy, he made me feel uncomfortable, kind of like when Hikaru decides to reach new levels of perverseness. I start to reach for my wallet, but am stopped when Andrew hands me my popcorn.

"Paid for, all I need is a thank you... I never managed to learn your name actually." He tells me.

"Oh thank you! My name is-" I start before I feel a hand grab me.

"Sorry, she's taken." Haruhi says while whisking me away from the concession stand. "Melanie, I know you're new to love, but something that you don't typically do is give random guys you're name, things can go downhill from there, besides, we both know that Hikaru is the jealous type." She scolds me.

I couldn't help but turn back around to the man, he seemed so...exotic. "I wasn't flirting with him, and besides Tamaki is the jealous type too, but that doesn't stop you." I whine. Haruhi rolls her eyes, but continues to pull me towards the theater. "Tamaki and I aren't a couple though. You and Hikaru are." She responds. I am about to respond before I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but you dropped your wallet in the haste." Andrew says while handing me my wallet.

A picture manages to fall out and before it even touches the floor, Andrew manages to grab it again. He stares at it. "Who is this?" He asks me.

"I don't know, can you turn it around?" I ask him. He turns it around to reveal a picture of Hikaru and I. Kaoru took it the day that they bought me the purse. Hikaru and I were smiling, I remember how happy I was because it was such a great day, and Hikaru seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. I started to smile at the distant memory; it was one of my absolute favorites.

"That is m-" I start before I am once again cut off by Haruhi.

"This is our friend, now if you excuse us; we have a movie to catch." She snaps at him. He pouts, but quickly shakes it off.

"I'm sorry for holding you two up, please excuse me." He says before turning around and leaving. "There is something fishy about him; I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the way he speaks? He says things so politely..." Haruhi starts. I roll my eyes.

"Shut up, we have a movie to catch." I tell her as I drag her into the quiet theater.

Once inside, Haruhi and I eat the popcorn, and actually enjoy the movie too. We we're laughing at the stupidity of the characters and the underdeveloped plot, but we still managed to squeeze some fun out of it.

I tell Haruhi I need to use the bathroom and leave, and return only to find someone arguing with Haruhi, and most importantly, sitting in my seat. I walk over and am surprised to see Andrew there, sipping on a coke. "What the hell are you doing in my seat?" I whisper to him. He smiles at me.

"I'm sitting in this seat, enjoying the movie. What does it look like I'm doing?" He asks me. I stare at Haruhi.

"I told him to get up, but this guy has the attitude of a rich bastard." She tells me. I start to laugh; everyone that acts stupid automatically has the attitude of a rich person in Haruhi's eyes.

"Can you please get out of my seat?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"No, but you can sit in my lap." He tells me with a wink. I'm shocked, but soon gather my thoughts enough to get some words out of my mouth.

"Hell. No. Get. Out. Of. My. Seat." I hiss at him. I don't know why, but this guy just ticked me off beyond comparison.

"Ok, ok. Don't get your panties in a twist." He says while getting up. I slip back into my seat, and release a sigh. This guy gave me a headache, but my nice persona soon came back anyway.

"Haruhi, pass the popcorn." I tell her.

"You can have some of mine instead." A familiar voice says again.

"Why the hell are you still here!?" I exclaim way to loudly. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around. There was a couple, who seem to be in about their mid-thirties, with an angry look on their faces.

"Can you please shut up?" They ask me. I give my apologies, and turn to Andrew.

You sure are acting different than Mr. Manners outside the theater." Haruhi tells him.

"I may or may not have DID." He responds. I roll my eyes.

"That's a bit of a sorry excuse, don't you think?" I ask him. He doesn't respond and that is the last thing I say to him for the rest of the movie.

When Haruhi and I exit, we lost Andrew. I think that the way he disappeared is pretty suspicious, but I guess I can't complain too much. We exit the theater, the bright sunlight hits us, and we duck our eyes. Haruhi insists on walking around, much to my pleasure, my legs are stiff from sitting so long.

We weren't even that far away from the restaurant when I see a recognizable picture in a passing alley. I tug on Haruhi's sleeve and cautiously drag her closer into the eerie enclosure. I find that the small piece of photo paper is even more familiar than I originally thought. It's the picture of Hikaru and I that I usually have in my wallet. I'm actually pretty creeped out, and so is Haruhi because she doesn't say anything and pulls me out of the alley.

We walk in silence to the restaurant. When we enter, it is lively, just like you would expect a bustling cafe to be. A hostess comes and seats us, leaving us with two menus.

I look at Haruhi, who looks at me with a questionable look. "Wanna explain how that happened?" She asked me. I shake my head.

"I honestly don't know. I find it as unexplainable as you do." I tell her. She raises her eyebrows, but stares at her menu instead. I can see her eyes get mesmerized as she reads the list of dishes.

"It's all so different, yet it sounds so great!" She says enthusiastically.

"Since when has food not been great?" I ask her. She looks less than amused at my comment.

"Ha ha ha. Now, is the chicken soup any good?" She asks me. I roll my eyes.

"It's absolutely amazing." I tell her. That must have been enough for her, because when the waiter came, she ordered three bowls of it.

"So, what do you think we should do after this?" I ask her while dipping my bread in my pasta sauce. Haruhi stares outside at the evening sky.

"It's still early, why don't we walk around? We might find a shop or an ice cream stand..." She starts. I smile.

"It's amazing how skinny you are considering the fact you eat your own weight in food." I reply. She smiles back.

"What can I say, I don't love anything more than I love food!" She gleefully exclaims.

"Except for Tamaki..." I mumble. She kicks me from underneath the table.

"I do not!" She retaliates. I keep my silly grin on my face.

"Oh really? Are you absolutely sure about that? I may have evidence that says otherwise." I tease her. Her face loses color. I was just kidding when I said that, but I think I may have just made this moment a tad bit more interesting. "So Haruhi, care to 'fess up?" I ask her. She sighs.

"Ok, well, in my defense, he forced it on me!" She tried to convince me. I laugh.

"Oh yes, that French womanizer, putting his will on you. That must have been torture! Would you like to have me call the cops for sexual harassment?" I falsely exclaim. Her face flushes a deep pink.

"Can we get the bill please!?" She asks a random waiter. He nods his head and Haruhi puts her face in her hands. "Stop smirking." She says through her enclosed hands. I don't, I keep smiling and think of how fun it's gonna be to mess with them. Oh gosh, I'm becoming just like Hikaru... I like it!

When the bill didn't come, I asked the waiter about it. "That young man sitting in the booth over there paid for your bill, and wished for me to tell you this, 'Pretty girls shouldn't have to pay pretty big bills.' May I say Miss, it sounds like this man likes you, perhaps you should thank him?" The waiter told us before leaving. I looked around in the direction he pointed to and saw Andrew, waving at me.

"That guys probably a pervert." Haruhi mumbles a bit too loud.

"Don't say that! We barely know him!" I respond.

"Exactly." Haruhi replies. I was confused at first, but I start to see what she means.

We walk down the street, looking at all the stores and such, and when I see a jewelry repair shop, a quickly tug Haruhi inside. I go up to the front counter and see the man waiting there; he probably had a long day and was waiting for me to hand it over, no questions asked. I put my hand into my pocket to pull it out, but soon realize that my pocket is empty. I search again, and by now, Haruhi sees my dilemma, and suggests retracing my steps. "Ok, did you crouch down or something?" She asks me. I shake my head, but think again.

"Yea! The alley! I bent down to grab the picture!" I exclaim before tugging on her and running out the store towards the alley.

"Do we have to? Can't you get a new one?" Haruhi complains.

"No! It's special!" I reply.

We finally get to the alley and sitting there in the middle of it is my priceless bracelet. "You can go in there, but I'm staying right out here." She tells me. I roll my eyes and move. I get closer and closer and this eerie feeling starts to come over. Was the picture this far into the alley? I continue moving and the feeling starts to surface a bit more. When I am a foot step away from the bracelet, I feel stupid for thinking something is going to happen. I pick the bracelet up safely and start to wipe all the crap off.

"There, good as new!" I exclaim with glee. I turn around, but I feel a hand cover my mouth almost immediately. At first he doesn't say anything, and I am too shocked to do anything. I look at the ending of the alleyway; there isn't a single trace of Haruhi.

"Don't say anything if you want to live." A male voice whispers in my ear. I am starting to cry now, I'm waiting for Haruhi to come out and kick him or something. I never get to see that though, because the next thing I know, the world goes black as I feel a sharp pain in my neck.

Haruhi's Point Of View

Great, Melanie decided to lose her bracelet. Even better, she went into a dark creepy alley trying to find it. I just wait at the entryway for her to come out, but soon a shiny flicker shines from the concrete not that far away. I look at the alley, I don't want to leave Melanie there by herself, but if this is her bracelet, I can cut her time in that creepy place to a bare minimum.

I start to walk to the shiny object, and when I get there, I sigh when I find that it was only a quarter. I slowly return back to the entryway and wait for another couple seconds before I feel that something is wrong. How long does it take to find a bracelet?

I walk in the alley and sure enough I see two guys trying to stuff the unconscious body of Melanie in the back of a van. Great, I'm the lucky winner of 'Cliché Madness' once again, but shouldn't a guy be in this position? Never mind that. "Hey! What the hell are you two bastards doing to her?!" I scream at them while running. They stay still, but then slowly turn around to reveal masks covering their faces. All of a sudden, they both start laughing.

"How cute, trying to help your friend?" One of them asks me. I stop; these guys are trying to play games with me.

"Shut up and give her back." I yell at them. They both laugh.

"And if we don't? I think we have more important things to worry about than a midget with an attitude." One of them says while closing the door.

I see red. It's one thing to call me a midget and to say that I of all people have an attitude problem, but it's a completely different thing to say that while stuffing my best friend in a car. I run up to one of them and launch my fist at him, but before I can even touch the air around him, he catches my fist.

"Nice try, but you obviously haven't fought before." He tells me. The voice sounded so familiar, so close to recognizable, yet so distant, but before I could put my finger on it, he grabs and twists my arm. I scream in pain, but this guy just kept his sinister smirk. "What do you think we should do with her?" He asks. The other guy shrugs.

"I don't really know. I got a pocket knife." Bozo number two tells him. The one holding my arm, shakes his head.

"No, we can't do that; it wasn't part of the mission." He thoughtfully argues.

"Should we just take her then?" The other one asks.

"I guess so." He responds. He lifts me clear off the ground, while opening the van again. I could sense it, my end was here, but someone loves me because all of a sudden I hear someone shout out. My kidnappers drop me and soon I feel a searing pain in my shoulder where I first made contact. I hear footsteps, they're coming closer and soon I am picked up by a man and a woman. While they were carrying me to the car, they asked me questions, most of which I couldn't answer because my attention was focused on the pain, but luckily I could manage to give them Melanie's address.

My rescuers kept on asking me if I wanted to go to the hospital instead, but I rejected it. I need to get home and tell everyone what happened. When we got to the house, they carefully lifted me out of the car. In the evening sun, I start to see their features better. The man was about Tamaki's height, he had brown hair and emerald eyes, and seemed pretty built up, while the woman seemed to be around 5'8", had blonde hair and brown eyes, she was lean, but still managed to have some curves to her. They rushed me up, and when they got to the door they quickly rang it and pounded on the door.

Tamaki answered and his eyes tripled in size as he saw me limp in the couples arms. "What the hell! Haruhi! What did you do?" He practically yells. The woman interrupts him mid-rant.

"We found her in an alley about to be stuffed in the back of a van." She tells my Senpai. God forbid, but Tamaki's eyes got bigger. He grabbed me and handed me to Mori, who suddenly popped up along with Hunny.

"Haru-chan! What happened?" He exclaimed with tears in his eyes.

"I can't even explain how grateful I am. Please, list an amount, any at all. It's not too much." I could hear Tamaki converse from the doorway. They didn't take any money, they were too happy to help.

"Kyoya!" Mori uncharacteristically yelled. Kyoya came walking down the steps, but when he saw me, he immediately went back up, only to return a couple seconds later with briefcase. Mori gently set me in a chair, and Tamaki came rushing out of nowhere and held my hand.

"Haruhi! How many times is this going to happen?! Call us for Christ's sake instead of rushing into things!" Tamaki yelled at me. I shook my head.

"You guys couldn't have come in time to stop them! Either way, Melanie is still gone!" I shout back at him. Around this time, Liam comes down stairs.

"What is the commotion...?" He starts, but then stops when he sees Kyoya bend down and do something to my shoulder. "Where the hell is Mel?" He asks me. I stutter over words. I do not want to be the one to tell Liam that his sister has been kidnapped. Luckily, Hikaru and Kaoru come downstairs.

"What happened to you Haruhi!" They exclaim.

"Ok, long story short, I got dropped shoulder first into the ground." I calmly tell them. They run over and hug me, much to Kyoya, Tamaki, and my annoyance. After a second though, Hikaru backs up.

"Where is Melanie?" He asks me. Other than the sound of bandages wrapping my shoulder into a make-shift cast, the room was silent. Everyone except for me stares down at the ground, while I stare at Hikaru's face. I didn't know what to tell him, and after a second, I see tears silently start to roll down his cheeks.

_A:N: Heylo! Yep, Mel-chan got kidnapped. Sorry for you guys that like her, but she's gone for now. (She's definitely coming back though! She's a main character for fudge's sake!) Anyway, did you guys like what I did with the bracelet? I thought it was cute, but that's only my opinion, and I'm the author anyway. Before I forget, thanks Pretend It Was Just A Dream for proofreading! (If you guys are Hunger Games fans, you might wanna check her out!) Also, I'm sorry that I haven't updated for such a long time, but I have been EXTREMELY busy with school things and such, so I hope this chapter made up for it. Love you guys and hope you keep reading!_

_P.S.- If you could tell me what one or two things you like most about this story, I would REALLY appreciate it. I have about three or four stories that I'm going to write after this, and I want to know what I do good at and what I'm not too good at. Thanks a bunch! I appreciate it!_


	15. A Loss Of Words

Why Me?

Chapter 15: A Loss of Words

Hikaru's Point Of View

I can feel the tears stroll down my cheeks. I feel so... empty. It's like my world has fallen apart.

I stare at Haruhi. She stares back at me with a depressed look in her eyes. I take a deep breath after a moment, and stare at the light to blink away the tears, when Mrs. Smallwood comes in. "Oh my goodness! Haruhi, what happened to you?" She asked, completely shocked. Haruhi starts to explain the story, and with each word, everyone's faces droop lower and lower.

I cast a glance over at Liam, who was staring at me. He quickly turns around and walks back up the stairs, to which I follow him.

When I finally make my way to his room, I see that he is packing his suitcase. "I'm leaving. I don't know where she is, how I will find her, or how I will get there, but I am going to get my sister back," He says without looking back at me. I follow what he says pretty quickly, and don't hesitate at all when I respond.

"I'm coming with you." He stops what he's doing and stares back at me for a second before resuming his task.

"No," he responds. I chuckle; since when have I taken no for an answer?

"And why not?" I ask him.

"Because you will only slow me down," he replies. I walk up to him and stare at the side of his head.

"Listen Liam, I know what you are thinking, but let me tell you this, you and I actually have something in common, as hard as it is to believe. We both love Mel, we both want her back home, we bo-" I say before Liam interrupts me.

"Oh God shut up! There is no such thing as 'we both', it's only one-sided! Everything is! It's only 'I'! I love Mel, I want her back home, give me a break and piss off will you?!" He yells at me, but I can see that he immediately regrets it. I am genuinely shocked; I guess that Liam hides a lot of emotion under that cold facade.

I don't look at him and he doesn't look at me, it actually worked out pretty good until he broke the silence. "Just go pack your stuff, as long as you don't get in my way you can come, but if you act as rich as you are, I will leave your ass right here." He coldly replies. Inside I am cheering, but on the outside I don't let any emotion cross my face, I just walk out his room and back to mine.

Inside, I see Kaoru already ahead of me in packing, but he has out two suitcases, one closed, and one open.

"What's all this?" I ask him.

"What do you think? I'm packing. Here's your suitcase." He says while handing me the empty one.

"You ran this past Liam? He blew when I told him I'm coming." I reply while opening the closet.

"No, I don't think I need permission to find my future sister-in-law," He responds.

"Guess not... Hey Kaoru, where's our matching ties?" I ask him. He stands up and gleams at me.

"This isn't a fashion show; you don't need to think about what clothes you're wearing, you just need to have some," he replies with a slightly annoyed tone. I roll my eyes.

"Well sorry, but I don't want to look like an idiot when I rescue her." I say before turning back towards the closet.

After a moment of silence, Kaoru speaks up again. "You think this is just a game don't you?" I spin towards him.

"Hell no! I know how serious the situation is!" I respond. I'm shocked that Kaoru would even think that I don't.

"Oh really? You may have cried earlier about Melanie, but do you honestly miss her? I know that if the person I love was missing that I surely wouldn't be worrying about where my tie is!" He spats at me.

I can feel my temper flaring, the last person I want to yell at is my own twin, but how dare he doubt my feelings for Melanie? "Well I'm sorry, Mr. Asshole that I am trying to get my mind off of it! Don't insult me by saying that I was faking!" I yell at him. He looks at me in disgust.

"Hikaru, this isn't like when we mess with all those other girls, this is a real life problem! Mel was kidnapped. She's not gonna just magically appear again, she was taken by some bastard! You need to take this serious!" He shouts back at me.

"I am!" I retaliate.

"No you don't! Sometimes I wonder how even though you act like a complete idiot most of the time, Melanie still likes you! I can't believe this! I shouldn't have-" Kaoru starts but abruptly stops. I raise my eyebrow at him.

"You shouldn't have what Kaoru?" I hiss at him. He doesn't make eye contact with me, something that pushed me over the edge. I go up to him and push him against the wall. He doesn't flinch, he just locks his amber eyes with my own. I wanted to stop, I hated having Kaoru mad at me, but I was so angry, angry at everyone, everything, I couldn't stop myself. "_You kissed Melanie, didn't you_?" I ask him.

Melanie's Point of View, Undisclosed Location

Everything hurts. I feel almost immobile by the agony I feel in my side. What happened? Where am I? I open my eyes to reveal a lavish penthouse, the sun shining through the window and taking a moment to blind me. After a few moments, I remember that I was kidnapped, so that's one of my questions answered, now, _where am I_?

I sit up and realize I am sitting in an expensive looking couch. I look around, my side still hurting, and get up. The extravagance of the apartment is absolutely stunning; it's almost like a miniature version of my house. I poke at a vase, but immediately retract my finger when I almost knock it over. After hearing Haruhi's story of how she got sold into slavery, I really didn't feel like making my own version.

I make myself around the house, I seemed to have figured out that it was styled extremely modern with plenty of solid colors and simple shapes, and after a bit of traveling, I finally find a room of importance to me, the kitchen. If I eat, then I might be able to think a bit more clearly in this situation. I look in the fridge, food is pouring from every available spot. I take the first thing l see, which happens to be an apple, and take an enormous bite out of it. The sweet taste of it quickly fills my mouth and I take another one before I walk out of the kitchen.

I sit down on the couch and try to make sense of the situation; so far, I only see a lot of cons. I was kidnapped, I don't know the date or time, and I don't know where I am. Subconsciously, I start hyperventilating. I don't know what to do! I need contact with the outside world, heck, I need to get outside! I run to the door and try to open it, but no matter how hard I try, it won't budge. I run over to the window, paying no attention to the fact that I'm stuck inside this apartment.

When I open the window, I breathe in the delight from the feeling of fresh air, but then I make the mistake of looking down and almost scream. The ground is so far below the apartment, I can't even see the people. I back away and take deep breaths.

All of a sudden, a thought hits me. Why don't I use my cell phone? _Goodness Mel! You're such an idiot!_ I dig into my pocket for my phone, but I don't find anything. I check again and get the same result: It's not there. Once again I start to hyperventilate and grasp my head while sitting down on the couch. "Why the hell did this happen to me!" I scream in frustration.

"Why did this happen to you," I hear a lady-like voice ask me. My head snaps up and I slowly turn it to the side. Standing there is a tall woman with brown hair and bright green eyes wearing a business suit, she looks like she's into her late twenties at most.

She walks over to me and grabs my chin. My eyes stare straight into her's and I can't help but feel that I know who this is. "Tell me Melanie, why did this happen to you?" She asks me again. I regain my thoughts, but don't speak. "Don't be surprised that I know your name, I know a lot more than that." She says while dropping my chin.

"A lot?" I ask her once I gain the courage to speak.

"Oh yes, from your school grades, to your brother's middle name, to your pregnancy scandal, to your little boyfriend, and may I say, I _love_ his hair." She replies, with the extra enthusiasm she puts into 'love' giving me an uneasy feeling.

I shake my head and stare at her in bewilderment. "Yea, I love his hair too..." I barely whisper.

"Care for coffee?" She asks me before going into the kitchen. I shake my head.

"Do you have a son?" I ask her.

Her eyes pop open in surprise as she comes back out of the kitchen, sipping her coffee. "Hmm, you're a smart one aren't you? Are you trying to piece together the mystery of who I am? I can tell you right now that I am probably the person you think I am. How about you? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" She responds.

"I wanna go home," I tell her.

She smiles at me. "You're so adorable! You think you can go home! Ha! After all I've been through to get you here, I'm not letting you go that quickly, especially since you are the most influential pawn I have, I can bring such misery to everyone that cares about you!" She exclaims cheerfully.

My eyes open in both disgust and shock. She wants to keep me here, to bring misery to other people? "What type of twisted person does that?!" I exclaim. Her smile transforms into a smirk.

"I do. If I'm going to get what I want, it's going to involve torture, but don't worry, it's not the torture your thinking about, I got rid of my medieval torture devices long ago. I told you Melanie, I know you more than you think, _I'm gonna get you where it hurts the most_," she responds.

My mouth opens at the horror I'm hearing. "What the hell is wrong with you!? You're sick! It's a good thing-" I start shouting at her, but am stopped when her hand reaches my face in a hard slap. I don't give into the pain; I only stare at the maniac in front of me, so much for first impressions.

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, it's your choice. I suggest you go with the right one." She growls. I scoff at her, if my stubbornness has ever been good for something, it's this, I will not back down to this she-devil.

She just let's her scary smile creep back on her face. "Ok then, you can't say I didn't warn you." She responds before I feel two arms wrap around my own. I am immediately dragged off the couch and into a room, and before I can get another word out, the door is shut, and I hear the clicking of a lock.

I get up off the floor and stare at my surroundings, there is a bathroom, a bed, and a window, nothing that's going to really help my current situation. I sit on the bed, my side, face, and head hurt. I wish somebody was here, anybody really. I stare at my lap, but the shimmering of the sun reflecting off my bracelet catches my eye. For the first time since I woke up, I smiled. I miss Hikaru, and the rest of my dysfunctional family. I want to get them back, and to do that, I need to play this game up to her level, control my pawns the best I can, I'm gonna be the one to call checkmate.

Hikaru's Point Of View

"Liam, we don't have a lead, how are we supposed to find her?" Tamaki asks Liam. He closes his eyes and rubs his temples.

"I don't know! Did someone file a missing person report?" He asks. Kyoya pushes up his glasses and nods his head.

"It's been done; I'm just getting impatient with the police," he murmurs. I roll my eyes, when isn't Kyoya impatient?

Mrs. Smallwood walks into the room and raises an eyebrow at us. I stare at her for a while; she is acting quite calm for a mother with a kidnapped daughter. She shakes her head and laughs to herself for a second, before coming up to me and Tamaki, who happens to be sitting next to me. "I appreciate all you gentlemen are doing for my daughter, but I think you are slightly over reacting," she starts.

My jaw almost drops, is she serious? Tamaki automatically stood up, towering over the petite woman. "My daughter is missing and you say we're over reacting?! Is your head screwed on right?!" He exclaims. She raises another eyebrow.

"First off, she's _my_ daughter, sit down and shut up about her being _your_ daughter, did you give birth to her? _No_. Second, my head is screwed on perfectly thank you very much. Now, are you calm enough for me to explain?" She asks Tamaki. Tamaki immediately retreats to his emo corner, only to have matters made worse by the crowd of laughter taunting him.

She takes a deep breath and explains, "What I mean is that Melanie is a smart girl, she knows what to do, how to stay alive long enough for us to find her. I by no means say that we should slow down for the slightest second though. And besides, as smart and persuasive as everyone gathered around this table is, it should be quite interesting trying to find her."

"She's also stubborn as hell, which could cause a few problem don't you think?" I say out loud. She changes directions from Tamaki to me.

"True, but that may be a benefit if used correctly," she responds.

"I for one think that we should call the President of the United States," Hunny chirps. We all stare at him for a few moments before Mori tells him that he probably shouldn't give ideas.

"I for one think that we should go back to the alley and try to find clues," Kyoya speaks up.

"Yea! At least then we may find a lead," Tamaki adds.

"Hey guys," Kaoru starts.

"Not now Kaoru, we got a really good plan in motion," Liam replies.

"No seriously, I need to tell you guys something," he tries again.

"Wait a minute! We need to get this down on paper!" Liam impatiently responds. Kaoru rolls his eyes but then goes up to Haruhi and picks up her good arm, much to her confusion, and taps on a bracelet she's wearing. My eyes immediately shoot open. How the hell could I forget that!

"Shut up!" I shout. Everything goes quiet and for a moment I feel foolish, but then get back to the point. "Haruhi, you said that Mel had her bracelet on her person when she got kidnapped right?" I ask her. Haruhi slowly shakes her head. I let out a sigh of relief before continuing. "Then I think we have this all found out!" I exclaim. Kaoru picks up on the confusion of everybody else in the room, so he immediately continues.

"You guys know about that bracelet that Hikaru gave Melanie, right?" We get six nods, so Kaoru continues. "Well, he gave that to her because he was sorry for acting like an asshole, but we also thought of something that would be beneficial if she had another break down and ran away! Before he gave her the bracelet, we got a GPS chip implanted into one of the charms!"

Everyone's eyes open in amazement, not to my surprise, because I know that I am brilliant somewhere deep down. "_You put a GPS in her bracelet_?" Liam asks us, utter shock written all over his face.

"Yea, I thought I just said that," I respond with an annoyed tone.

"Hikaru! That's brilliant! And slightly stalkerish at the same time, but still coincidentally great!" Tamaki exclaims before putting Kaoru and I in a bone crushing hug. After we make it quite clear that we were suffocating, (we stepped on his feet and yelled at him.) I grab my cell phone and show them the GPS.

Everyone stares in awe as the phone tracks down her location. "Umm... guys? Since we are all adding things onto this pile of confessions, I may as well tell you guys that Mel-" Haruhi starts before getting cut off by me.

"Got it! Melanie is in... New York City?!" I question. I hear a giant 'What?' radiate from everyone behind me. "Never mind that, we gotta get going," I exclaim.

"Right," everyone else responds. Haruhi shakes her head and forgets whatever she was about to say.

"All of you need to calm down, you haven't gotten any flight arrangements prepared, and you have been up all night worrying about this, get some rest!" Mrs. Smallwood commands us.

Everyone disbands, with Kaoru and I going back to our room without saying a word to each other, the tension between us from earlier is still hanging in the air.

"Forgive me yet?" Kaoru asks me.

I don't look at him, but answer anyway. "There's nothing to forgive, it's not like you can control it."

I change my shirt and lay in bed facing away from Kaoru. "You shouldn't try to deny it, but think about this, I have given up so many things for you, why are you mad at me about this?" He asks me. I contemplate it; I don't give him an answer until I am certain that I have the correct one.

"I'm mad because she is my best friend, the one I want to be with, and I don't like that she's managed to make you fall in love with her too. It's like Haruhi all over again, except Tono got to her before I could."

I hear him laugh and then turn on my other side to face him. "May I ask what's so funny?" I ask him.

He turns his smiling face to me. "I'm laughing because you think that I have a chance against you," he answers.

I stop cold. "You've had her long before I even thought of loving her, and even if you hadn't, I know that you're a dummy when it comes to feelings and would screw it up, but you would have still managed to get her in the end. No matter the cost to me, I can't hurt you like that, you're my brother. I take back what I was about to say earlier, I'm glad I gave up on her. I promise you that Mel is all yours."

Melanie's Point Of View

"What the hell? Who is it?" I ask when I hear the door open. "It's your dinner, and the lady of the house would like for me to inform you with this message, 'A dead hostage isn't a very fun hostage.'" The man says before leaving again.

I accept the tray and sit back on the bed to eat it. I spend most of my day thinking about how I could possibly get out, but unless I want to jump out of the window in a suicide attempt, there really is no way to get out, and also wondering what she means when she says that she has other ways of torture, she sounds like a twisted sadist if you ask me...

When I feel like I'm about to pass out from boredom, the doors suddenly open again and in come the two body guards with a giant flat screen tv. I raise an eyebrow as they install it into the wall, but then see the wide open door and an idea springs in my head. I jump off of the bed, and make a run for the door, which in all honesty wasn't that far away from the end of the bed, but all of a sudden I feel my feet slip out from under me and I face plant into the carpet. "That's not good for the baby." I hear my captors voice ring from the door frame. I look up just so I can give her the most despicable stare I can manage, but she only laughs it off and returns to her previous task of walking out the door.

The two guys who installed the tv left the room, and locked it once again, but then came back just to throw the tv remote at me.

I turn the tv on and to my displeasure, the only thing that came on was the video footage of the camera in the living room. Great, now I can indirectly stalk this crazy woman when she's reading a book.

About a half hour later, I see the door open on the tv, and in comes the maniac with a child that looks like he is about four years old. He sits down on the couch and starts talking, something I can hear him doing quite clearly since the room I am trapped in is connected to the living room. "Mommy, what are we having for dinner?" The boy asks. What I saw next surprised me immensely; she smiled a genuine looking smile.

"How about some pizza?" She asks him. He jumps up and down in joy, but then stops all of a sudden.

"Is Daddy gonna join us today?" He asks his mother. Her face automatically changes into one of hurt and pain, but she puts a smile on her face for the sake of her little boy.

"No Mason, daddy's not gonna come back ever again." She answers him. The boy's, who's name I assume is Mason, face droops in sadness, but after his mother picks him up, it automatically has a smile upon it.

Slowly, all the pieces fit together, and the realization dawns on me. This _woman_ is living in a penthouse that only a _rich person_ could afford, she has a son about_ four years old_, and she has a grudge against _my family_. That kid is my half-brother, and that lady is my dad's mistress. She's holding me captive for not something I did, but because of what my dad did, she wants to hurt my family by taking away someone important to them, just like my dad was important to them.

After a moment of letting that sink in I come to a conclusion, I'm not gonna let her get to me, I'm not gonna allow her to hurt my family, especially through me, and I'm not gonna back down, not like my dad did.

_A:N: Hola! I'm here again! Sorry for the long wait for the next chapter, but it was the last month of school and I had so much stuff piled up I didn't have too much time to do anything. Before I forget, I'd like to thank Pretend It Was Just A Dream for once again proofreading and also being there for me! In anime related news, I have been obsessed with Angel Beats (Even though I already watched it, I just loved it so much I have to watch it again!) Black Butler II (Finally finished the first season!) Fruits Basket (I stopped watching it at the last episode, and now that I finally finished it, I didn't want it to end! It was sad, but I loved it. Manga's next!) and of course, my undying love, Ouran. (I will watch it for the 4th time.) So yea, if I'm not writing, I'm watching anime or hanging out with friends. So in conclusion, hope you liked the chapter, and please, give me your thoughts on it! (And if you could take the time, can you please vote in my poll? I wanna know what I'm gonna write after the sequel to this story!)_


	16. The Road Less Traveled

Why Me?

Chapter 16: The Road Less Traveled

Hikaru's Point Of View

"Tamaki, don't you think that's a bit extreme?" I ask Tamaki once I realize the subject of the rant he just wasted ten minutes of my life on. It seemed everybody else on the flight was plugging their ears to prevent anymore damage to their brain.

"Of course not! Anybody that kidnaps my daughter and upsets the rest of my family deserves only the harshest treatment!" He responds. I shake my head at his eccentrics.

"Umm, Tamaki? I just thought of something..." Kaoru starts from the seat next to my own. "Since you call Melanie your daughter, and Hikaru your son, and they are dating, wouldn't that mean incest?" He asks.

My eye starts twitching and Tamaki's face loses all color. The flight attendant comes up to us, and after a brief examination of Tamaki's face, she immediately leaves again, I wish I could have joined her.

"Incest?" He repeats after a few seconds. My twin and I nod our heads in unison. "I never really thought of that... Mommy!" Tamaki yells out to non-other than 'Mommy' himself.

"What is it now, daddy?" Kyoya asks from the seat behind us.

"Our son and daughter are committing the ultimate taboo! What do we do?!" Tamaki whines. I roll my eyes, good job Kaoru, you got him going.

I actually did a pretty good job of blocking him out until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tamaki grab on to a attendant, who's face automatically goes firetruck red. "Mademoiselle, you have to help me! What do I do in a situation like this?!" He complains at the top of his lungs. At this point, passengers were actually looking at our group with sympathetic looks in their eyes.

Kyoya stands up and clears his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse this, my dear friend here is actually suffering from a case of 'I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself-tosis'. Combined with his long running history of 'I'm-an-idiot-itis', he is lashing out in more ways than one. Father's on board, if he starts hitting on your daughter's, don't be alarmed, it means he's actually returning to his usual self. Trust me, my father owns the largest hospital business in Japan." He announces. Everyone except for Tamaki nods their head in agreement, except Liam, who was sleeping.

"Mommy! I am not lashing out! My dear daughter is missing and I am freaking out!" Tamaki exclaims. My twin and I roll our eyes. The terrified flight attendant who Tamaki is still crushing in his embrace, finally speaks up.

"Umm... G-g-gentlemen, I must ask you to sit down." She whispers. Kyoya bends down and unwraps her from Tamaki, before lifting her face up to his. '_Way to go Kyoya, you don't do any hosting when you're actually in a club who's main idea is to keep girls happy, but now that it's not required, you really don't know what to do with yourself.'_ I think to myself.

"My lady, I am sorry for the ruckus we're causing, but please forgive us, we've been on this flight for a couple hours, we just need to stretch our legs out." He purrs into her ear. Soon Tamaki, Kaoru, and I are standing up, and stretching, we really didn't need to stretch, but we had to prove Kyoya's point somehow.

"Hey guys, can you please keep your Asian awkwardness to yourself, I don't want my daughter to be scarred for life just because she witnessed this." A random guy calls out. I get a bit ticked off by that.

"Your daughter? My girlfriend, who is carrying my baby, is missing and you are really worrying about that?" I ask aloud. The random guy stands up.

"Wait, what? You look like you're only 16!" He replies, obviously shocked.

"Yea, so what? You have a wife, she mothered a kid, what's the difference?" I ask him. By now the entire rest of the flight was enjoying the soap opera unfolding in front of them.

"The difference is that I'm twenty-nine!" He retaliates. I can feel all the heads shifting their views from him to me. Tamaki, Kyoya, and Kaoru sit down, also enjoying the scene.

"It doesn't matter!" I reply.

"Yes it does! And did that blonde idiot call your girlfriend his _daughter?_ He looks like he's your age!" He responds.

Another flight attendant comes out of nowhere and tells me to sit down and shut up. I fume in my seat, no way I'm gonna let him get away with this.

When we get off the plane and get to the luggage section, I spot the guy again, but before I get the chance to actually get back at him, I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Hikaru, think about this, what would Melanie do?" Kaoru asks me. I turn my head towards him with an unamused look on my face.

"Don't you mean Jesus?" I ask him.

"No, in your case Melanie works just the same." He replies with a smile on his face. Damn him for being so sneaky.

Once we get out of the mass confusion called an airport, I once again get my cell phone out and check for Melanie's location. It proved to be not that far from our current location, actually, it was in walking distance. Everyone of the hosts, and Liam of course, with backpacks in hand, followed me as we made our way to a condo building.

The inside of it wasn't nearly as extravagant as Ouran Academy, but it was still stylish to say the least.

We went to the front desk, and when the man asked us if we were planning on renting, we told him we were here to see someone.

"Ok then, who?" He asked us. All our faces dropped, we don't have a single clue.

"Would you be interested in some coordinates?" I ask him. Kaoru hit me on the back of the head. "It was worth a shot!" I replied while rubbing my head. The counter guy rolled his eyes.

"No, not at all. If you have no business here, I must ask you to leave." He tells us before reverting his attention to his computer screen.

"Sir, before we leave, may I ask you what your name is?" Kyoya randomly asks him.

"Patrick Reid, why you ask?" He asks while staring suspiciously at Kyoya, who had his signature smirk on his face.

"No reason. Good day." And with that, he walked towards the waiting area. The rest of the club followed him, and when he sits down and pulls his laptop out of his bag, that's when Hunny speaks up.

"Kyo-chan, what was that about?" He asks the shadow king.

"Give me five minutes, I will get enough information to black mail him." He responds coldly.

"But Kyoya! I thought that was a last resort!" Tamaki exclaims.

"It is, but isn't this a desperate situation? Besides, if we manage to get certain racy photo's of him in Las Vegas, he really has no choice to answer Haruhi's description of any of the encounters she had of the day Melanie got kidnapped." He responds. That's Kyoya for you, always thinking a step ahead.

"Guys, that's him." Haruhi suddenly says while pointing at a male walking out of the elevator. I raise my eyebrow in question.

"Haruhi, who is 'him' exactly?" Tamaki asks the brunette.

"It's that guy who was stalking Melanie and I that day!" She replies. I could see a vein start to pop out of Kyoya's head, all that work for nothing.

Tamaki grabbed Haruhi's hand, and ran after the man, who was walking out the door. Kaoru and I ran after them, while Kyoya, Mori, Liam, and Hunny stayed behind.

We almost ran past Tamaki and Haruhi, but when we felt our collars being tugged at, we came to a halt. "Yep, that's most definitely the pervert." Haruhi states flatly.

"Then let's stalk him. He probably knows who the kidnapper is if it's not himself." I reply.

"But what if he doesn't?" Kaoru asks.

"Then we're screwed." I respond.

"Cross your fingers, c'mon, he's moving." Tamaki says before running behind the guy.

We watch him from afar for another couple minutes before Tamaki's cell phone starts ringing. "Hello?" He answers. "Kyoya! What? You want a description of him?" He asks into the receiver. I raise my eyebrow at Kaoru, who shrugs his shoulders at me. "Let me see, he has brown hair, blue eyes, he's taller than me, is that descriptive enough?" Tamaki asks. Next thing I know, I can crystal clearly hear Kyoya yell at Tamaki. "I'm sorry Kyoya! What else do you need to know?!" He complains with tears in his eyes. All of a sudden, his face perks up. "Really? You need a name?" He asks. After a few seconds, his face lifts into a smile, and he snaps his phone shut. "Hikaru, Kaoru, go and get a name out of him!" He commands us.

"Why us, boss?" I ask him.

"Because I don't want you two doing anything to Haruhi just because I left her alone with you." He says while protectively pulling her close to him, she responds to that by stepping on his foot. I roll my eyes, but grab my twin and walk up to the guy.

We were at his heels when I 'accidentally' tripped him. He fell on the ground, but not before his arm slammed into the light pole.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I exclaim while trying really hard to try to put some genuine feeling to it.

"What the hell! My arm!" He screams out. Plenty of people were creating space for us, others kept walking like they saw nothing.

"Let us help you!" Kaoru and I assure him while picking up the helpless victim of our scheme. While we were picking him up, we started the interrogation.

"So, where do you live?" I ask him.

"Why the hell do you need to know?" He asks us, rubbing his arm.

"So we can bring you there! You have to rest that arm!" Kaoru replies. He stopped arguing, but I knew that he thought we were suspicious. He harshly told us that he lives in the apartments.

I caught him staring at me, and then at Kaoru, switching back and forth every couple seconds. "If you don't find this rude, can I ask why you're staring at me?" I question him.

"Nothing important, but I could have sworn I've seen you before, but now I recognize you have a twin and I'm just getting even more confused." He admits. I glance at Kaoru, who stares back just as confused as I am.

"Sorry sir! I have never seen you in my entire life!" I assure him. He shakes his head and continues to walk with us.

"I don't know why you two keep walking with me, it's not like I hurt my leg, and my arms getting better anyway." He tells us.

I stare at Kaoru, and he stares back at me, while I silently start to panic, he makes up a random excuse. "Health insurance! What if you used up all the money you could use to take a trip to the doctor, and you need a loan? We're here to make sure that you aren't going to bed in agony tonight because two foreigner's tried to kill you!" He chirps. The man raises an eyebrow, but doesn't question us any further.

I see Tamaki and Haruhi at the entrance to the penthouse building, Tamaki gives me a wink and then drags her inside.

We are quick to follow, and soon are inside, making our way to the elevator.

"Listen you two," He starts after he pushes the button to his floor. "you don't have to come with me, my arm doesn't hurt anymore, you can leave." He tells us. We both shake our heads.

"No, we insist!" I start

"We need to make sure that it's not worse than it seems!" Kaoru finishes.

The man rolls his eyes, and when he turns, I do too.

We walk out of the elevator, into the hallway, and down to what I can only assume is his room, but before we enter, he turns around and blocks the doorway.

"I don't know why the hell you two insist on all this, but I'll get the paper. One thing, _you can't come inside, _got it?" He asks us. I can almost see the paranoia radiating off of him, very suspicious.

Nevertheless, I stare at Kaoru, and he stares at me, but we both turn back to the man, give him confident smiles and nod.

He opens the door, and then slips in the apartment, but before he could close it, I carefully slipped my foot in between the door frame. "You wanna go?" I ask my twin.

He shakes his head and opens the door for me. "She's your girlfriend, why don't you take the honors." He assures me.

I slip in, fortunately undetected, and when I hear someone coming down the hallway to my left, I quickly scatter for a place to hide.

I quickly found out that being behind the couch was a safer alternative to standing out in the open, in an apartment you don't own.

I listen for the footsteps, and of course they come, but they go a separate direction from the door. These go to a door that's a little bit down the hallway, but otherwise still close enough to the living room that I heard the entire conversation.

"So, are you eating your food? You know that I dead hostage isn't a useful hostage!" I hear a womanly voice chorus. The one she got in return was filled with spite though.

"No, I'm _not _eating my food, and you're not gonna make me. I mean seriously, why would I listen you? You are a crazy bitch who has nothing more important in your life than keep a sixteen year old girl hostage."

I freeze. My eyes triple in size as I recognize the owner of that voice, I can't believe I found Melanie. It seems almost too easy. Next thing I know, I hear Melanie scream, and I am up in an instant, not even paying attention to the fact that I am exposing myself. I rush to the door, and before I even think about what I'm doing, or the woman who is standing right in front of me, pulling Melanie's hair, I call out to her.

"Melanie!" I shout.

The only response I get is two shocked faces and a slight hiccup sound coming from Melanie.

"Hikaru?" She barely manages to stutter out before taking advantage of the moment of shock and releasing herself from the woman's grasp. I am about to grab on to her hand, which was held out for me, but Melanie was once again pulled back, and I was also.

The man who's arm I hurt earlier shut the door behind him, and before I realized what had happened, he punched me. I felt the pain move through my cheek, but before I could think about it, another blow landed on my opposing cheek and knocked me on the ground. I cried out in pain, and luckily, Kaoru burst through the door. He snaps his cell phone shut, smirks at the maniac in front of me, and starts to chuckle a bit darkly.

"So, you dared touch my twin brother?" He asks.

"Ah great, you're here." Is the only reply he gets from the man, who from this point forward, I have decided to call the maniac.

"Yep, and so will Tamaki, Kyoya, Liam, and Mori in three, two, one..." Kaoru starts before the door bursts open once again to reveal three of my club members and Liam.

"Hikaru! What the hell happened to you?!" Tamaki exclaims.

"Well, judging by the fact that you guys know I'm in danger, what the hell do you think happened?!" I retaliate.

"Enough!" I hear voices call out from behind the maniac. I tilt my head to the side a bit, and standing there are five men, all ready to take on a challenge. I change my view from them back to the club. Their expression show no emotion, only blank stares at the five lean guys who seem pretty pissed off.

Liam goes up to one, and before I question him, lands a solid punch to the guy's face.

And with that, the war had begun.

After I got punched around a few more times, while still managing to give out a few, I heard a Hunny's voice come out of nowhere. "And this, Haru-chan, is how you break someone's arm!" He squeaks before the man Haruhi and him were standing behind fell down to the ground in agony.

The fighting stopped for a minute and everyone's attention was diverted to the man who was laying on the ground, holding his arm as if it were a newborn baby. I took advantage of this moment, and gave one last solid punch to the maniac's face, causing him to be knocked down to the ground, and the fighting to begin yet again.

I grab him by the collar and sit on him to give me an advantage. "Why the hell did you kidnap her?!" I exclaim. He just stared at me, and after a second, spit to show his discontent. I punched him again.

"Hikaru, don't you think you are getting a bit extreme now?" Haruhi asks me, before being pulled down by Hunny, with Mori's leg round housing the man about to prance on her.

I redirect my attention back to the asshole. "Care to speak now?" I ask him. He doesn't do anything, which made me drive over the edge. "Do you know what that girl is to me?! That is my _girlfriend. _I _love _her. She's in _there,_ with some crazy _bitch, _having who knows what done to her!" I scream at him.

"Rachael is not crazy!" He exclaims. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really?" I ask him.

"Yea! The only reason she got me to kidnap her was because of Melanie's damn father! And you love Melanie? I have my own love problems too! Wanna know a secret? You don't get every damn thing you want!" He retaliates.

The shock on my face was clear as day, and I realize that the fighting has stopped to listen to our argument. I put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and now I am just too curious to find out the rest.

"What do you mean?" I ask him. He shakes his head and his eyes start tearing up a bit.

"All I did was love her," He starts quietly. All the restraint had stopped, and I was still on him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I question him.

"After Rachael's heart got broken, I was convinced that I could make everything better, so slowly, I helped her out with things, trying to get everything back on track, and eventually, I fell in love with her. So, one day, I popped the question. She laughed it off, and in my fit of rage, I told her that restarting her life would be a better alternative to living her life so unhappily, or plotting revenge. Sadly she took a liking to the idea, and said that if I kidnap Melanie, she would marry me. I was desperate, so I did it. I'm sorry that I had to do it, but as a guy in love, you know you would do anything for her." He admitted.

I listened to his story, and I felt sorry for him the longer it dragged on, but when he made that last remark, it really hit home.

I got off him, but didn't let go of his shirt collar. "Go." He simply told me.

"But wait!"

"Andrew!"

"You can't do that!"

Is all I heard before I ran to the door, I turned around one last time and actually saw Andrew smiling at me, before he got hit once again in the head.

Melanie's Point Of View

I don't think that there was anything more torturous than having to listen how your own father cheated with a crazy psychopath, especially when your mouth is duck taped and your hands and feet are tied together. Luckily, Hikaru burst through the door before things got too bad.

"Get your hands off of Melanie!" He shouted. A slight smile was creeping on to my face, but it quickly disappeared when my captor reacted. She stopped stroking my head and slowly made her way to Hikaru.

"Oh Hikaru, why don't you calm down? You're so tense!" She says. He raises an eyebrow at her, almost if he didn't understand.

"Why the hell do you know my name?" He questions.

"Does it matter?" She asks him innocently while putting her hand on his chest. He takes a step back, he probably saw my face and realized I was gonna kill someone, and he didn't want it to be him.

"C'mon Hikaru, leave Melanie and stay with me. I'm _so _much better than her." She tells him seductively. I feel a part of me crack.

"No. I just wanna get Mel and leave." Hikaru replies, moving away from her to get to me. He is once again stopped by her hand. I feel another part break.

"Don't just ignore me." She growls.

"Well I'm sorry, the fact that the guy you had an affair with left you, doesn't have to do with me. Please stop acting pathetic." He responds, once again making a move to get to me. I started to make the slightest attempt at a smile after Hikaru back talked her.

Nevertheless, I could see her get tense, and she didn't stop him at first, but when Hikaru bent down to untie the rope around my legs, she pulls him up and kisses him.

I could have sworn I heard my heart break in pieces. It felt like a million blows coming from all sides, it felt like I relived the entire cheating situation all in one measly second.

I am too shocked to do anything at first, and much to my disappointment, Hikaru doesn't move either. I could feel the tears start rolling down my cheeks, but what Hikaru does next surprises me.

He rips his face off of her's, and quickly wipes his mouth in disgust.

"My lips don't touch anyone else's except for Melanie's." He coldly replies, before slapping her hard across the face.

After a second of everything just sinking in, he once again leans down, but this time, he looks into my teary eyes and smiles. When I feel something cold against my throat though, his smile quickly disappears.

"Not again, no one is going to reject me." She whispers, the knife on my neck shaking ever so slightly.

Hikaru slowly stands up, and clears his throat. "Rachael, listen to me. You need to calm down. If you want a man to love you, you shouldn't be tricking Andrew, who already does love you, into doing something as delusional as kidnapping." He states.

I could feel the knife shake again, this time more violently, and I get more and more scared by the second.

"He doesn't love me, not after this." She replies.

Hikaru moves her arm so that it's not on my neck anymore, and once again, he starts smiling.

"Yes he does. You just need to-" He starts before getting cut off.

"No, I don't. I've thought about it, and I know I deserve better." Someone calls from the doorway.

Standing there was Andrew, his light blue eyes not looking near as radiant as I remember them to be in the movie theater, but horrifically, he was holding a gun, pointed either at me, or at Rachael.

"Wait, Andrew, I-" Rachael starts but before she could get out another word, I feel the heat of warm blood on my neck.

Hikaru stands up alarmed, but then without a second's hesitation, pulls the duck tape off my mouth and picks me up.

"Andrew!" Hikaru yells.

"Save it, get out of here." Andrew responds.

I manage to change my position and look back at Rachael, who is holding the area where the bullet hit.

Next thing I know, I here shouts coming from the living area. Hikaru races out, and standing there is a police force. What I can only assume are people from Rachael's task force, are handcuffed and sitting on the floor, mumbling to themselves. Kyoya and Tamaki were explaining the situation to the cops, but Hikaru interrupts them.

"Andrew just shot Rachael." He tells the police, who immediately make the necessary procedures to try to save her life, leaving the rest of us to stand in the room, just thinking about what hell we've been through.

A Couple Hours Later

We just got released from the police station. Everything sorted out, we didn't get any charges, but they advised us that since only two of us were actual U.S. Citizens, that we should try to leave the country as fast as we can.

I didn't pay attention to much of the conversation in the car, I was too busy being terrified about the scene I had witnessed what felt like it took place only ten minutes ago, leading me to not talk much on the ride to the hotel, I simply kept my head in Hikaru's chest.

Time passed by so quick, that when Hikaru, Kaoru, and I made our way up to our room, I didn't even realize that it was already night.

"Mel, do you want something to eat? It's almost nine o'clock, you must be starving." Kaoru asks me once we get inside. I hear my stomach grumble again, I hadn't eaten anything sufficient in a long time, so I gladly accept his request. Kaoru leaves, leaving only Hikaru and I together in the room.

I don't hesitate to jump up and into Hikaru's arms. I feel him wrap them tighter and tighter around me, much to my satisfaction, and instantly, I start crying.

"Melanie, please don't cry." He whispers soothingly.

"I can't help it! When she kissed you, I felt like something was stolen that's mine! My heart was being ripped to pieces! And along with that, she tortured me! I just-" I cry out, but the tears were choking me up so much, I never finished.

Hikaru slowly picks my head up and after giving me a genuine smile, he kisses me, and for the first time ever, I leaned in and kissed him back. I honestly knew what this entire situation did to me, I know what I meant when I said something that was mine was being taken away. I knew what I had to do.

I broke it off, and stared into Hikaru's bright auburn eyes.

"Hikaru?"

"Yes, Mel?"

"I love you."

He smirks before replying.

"I love you too." And with that, I kiss him again.

A:N: OH MY GOSH! AS THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY, I CAN'T BELIEVE I WOULD SAY THIS, BUT GOSH DANG IT, THE FEELS! You guys don't even know how long I've been wanting to write that! I'm soooooo happy! (And I hope you guys are too!) Now, I'm a bit torn apart, because the end of this story is actually very near. (Next chapter may be the last guys!) But I might have to write another chapter for a major thing that has been going on for the past couple chapters. Anyway, please, feel free to express your happiness in the review box! I love you guys, and I'm so sad the end is near! (But not too sad because as most of you know already, I'm writing a sequel.)


	17. Revealing the Truth

Why Me?

Chapter 17: Revealing the Truth

Melanie's Point Of View

"Ok Melanie, I'm going to have to ask you to tell us some things, ok?" Tamaki asks me. I nod my head, I know what the subject is going to be, but considering the fact that they came all the way here to save me, not even mentioning the fact that they were worried sick, I think they deserve answers.

"First off, did she hurt you?" Hikaru demands.

"Physically, no. Mentally, well, the entire situation was a bit traumatizing." I answer. He comes over and hugs me tightly again, I smile a bit, it felt nice.

"Who else was there?" Tamaki asks me. I think for a second.

"I remember there being the guy from the movie theater, what's his name... Andrew! And then there was another guy, I don't know anything about him though. Other than that, the only other person living there was..." My voice starts trailing off as I think about my half brother in shame.

"Who?" Haruhi asks.

I shake my head and lie it down on the table as I realize the horror. "My four year old half brother, Mason." I whisper.

The room goes silent and I just sit there thinking about how his mom is still in the E.R.

"What's gonna happen to him, Mel-chan?" Hunny questions.

"I can only guess that he has to go live with my father, he is his dad too after all." I respond.

"It won't help the fact that his mom is pretty much dead though, what are they gonna tell the kid?" Hikaru asks.

I hit his arm. "Don't say that! She may make it through it!" I snap.

Hikaru shakes his head. "So you're saying that after all that woman did to you, you still feel sympathy for her?" He replies.

I nod my head. "Yea, I mean after all, I could walk in her shoes with this entire thing. If you think about it, she had a more twisted version of my story, that of course takes a different route somewhere near the beginning, but nevertheless, she still was hurt by the cheating just as I was. If anything, it was harder for her." I answer.

The twins' mouths drop. "So basically, you think everything was worse for her?!" They exclaim in unison.

I nod my head. "I just said that didn't I? I wasn't the one who felt lonely, I wasn't in love with anyone-" I start before I hear a cough coming from none other than Hikaru.

"As I was about to say, I wasn't in love with anyone _yet, _and I wasn't raising a kid by myself." I finish.

The thought seemed to have reminded Haruhi of something as she came up to me and whispered something in my ear. I do a face palm.

"Well, I totally forgot about that. It's a good thing I said kids, huh Haruhi? Anyway, before the incident, I was actually going to tell all of you guys something. Remember how I took that pregnancy test at the courthouse that day?" I ask

I get several nods in my direction, so I continue.

"Well yea, turns out that my prayers actually did work. I'm _not _pregnant!" I exclaim. I hear what seemed like one giant sigh of relief, but then Liam speaks up again.

"But wait, you told me you were when we were fighting that one night!" He exclaims. I rub my head in embarrassment.

"Well, I was pissed off, it just slipped out. How else was I supposed to react to my own brother talking bad about my life?" I ask him.

Liam shrugs his shoulders and everyone but Kaoru and Kyoya looked around in confusion.

"Ok, back to the subject, how would you guys feel if you were left to raise a kid by yourself?" I ask the clueless hosts.

"Well, it honestly wouldn't be bad, nor hard, since we're rich after all, everything's easy for us." Hikaru commented. I turn to him with a displeased look on my face.

"So Hikaru, if we had a kid, and I cheated on you, then left you, you're saying that you wouldn't care?" I ask him with a rather annoyed tone.

I can automatically see his eyes double in size and he is quick to respond, "No! That's not what I meant at all!"

"Then sit down and shut up, think a bit before you speak." I reply. Much to my pleasure, he took my advice to heart and sits down next to Kaoru, who whispers something in his ear, making him go bright red.

"Mel-chan, that does sound horrible, but what can we do? She's probably dying right this moment, it's not like we can erase that fact that she got shot." Hunny pipes up.

"That may be true, but I recently did some research..." I start.

"Melanie, I know you wanna help and all that, but honestly, how did you even get over that so quickly? All of this just happened yesterday! And on the other hand, this woman tortured you, how can you even bring yourself to _think _about helping her?" Tamaki cuts me off.

I smile a bit to myself before coming up with my answer.

"All I did last night was think, I didn't really get any sleep, hence the never ending cups of coffee I've been drinking all morning, but anyway, I thought of something that is kinda cliché, but it's very true at the same time: Why hate when you can forgive? That would be the one thing that clearly separates me from Rachael, she thirsted for revenge while I honestly have better things to do than plot how to screw someone's life up. If I help her though, I have this hope that I can actually turn her views around. To answer your other question," I start laughing a bit to myself before I continue "I got over it because I knew that even though she put me through all that, you guys came for me, you didn't stop, you took a couple punches, but you still came, and that honestly cleared a couple things up for me, I'm not gonna lie, the pain is still kind of there, but it's a million times easier to fix your life when it has so many great people in it, even if most of them are spoiled individuals who don't even know how to make their own bed." I finish with another laugh.

All I got is a couple of blinks and stares before a couple of grins spread across everyone's faces.

"Hikaru, I swear if you do anything stupid to her..." Liam starts before I go over and whack him upside the head.

"Don't worry Liam, she practically broke my brain with that speech, I don't think I'm gonna let her go anytime soon." Hikaru responded with a smile directly gestured towards me.

I smile back while shaking my head a bit, but then remembered that I never finished my response to Hunny's question.

"Anyway, I know the perfect way to help her, you see, I read that she's type B blood..." I start while looking at Hikaru. His eyes get wide once again. "...And she may need a blood transfusion..." I continue.

"No."

"Yes."

"I say no, Mel. I'm not giving my blood to a person I hate."

"Hate's a strong word."

"I think it's appropriate."

"You know what else is strong word? Love. I may not be able to use it yet..."

"Fine. What hospital is she staying at?"

I silently cheer in my head as I finally got my victory over the very stubborn Hikaru.

"Memorial Hospital, and don't worry, I'll come with you to hold your hand when you get the blood drawn." I tease. Hikaru starts arguing over how he doesn't need me to do that, but I ignore his rant.

"So Mel-chan, do you have any idea when you'll to go back to Japan?" Hunny asks me.

I shake my head. "I don't know an exact date, but I know that before I go back, I'm going back to my mom's house in Georgia. There are some things I need to do first." I respond.

"Packing?" Liam asks.

I nod. "Yes, that and a couple of other things of course, I think that's it about time I spoke to dear old dad, don't you think?" I ask him. Liam closes his eyes and lets out a deep sigh.

"Mel..." He cautions.

"If I don't face my problems how are they gonna get resolved?" I reply, ending the conversation.

It was silent for a few moments, but then I tell everyone that I'm gonna go get shoes, and that Hikaru and I will leave immediately for the hospital.

Once Hikaru and I step out of the taxi and onto the pavement in front of the hospital, I can sense him start to tense up a little bit, to which a squeeze his hand.

"Relax." I whisper.

"Not as long as I am on the same planet as that-" He starts mumbling.

"Don't say anything, you're only gonna get me started." I caution.

"But seriously! Why the hell do _I _have to do it?" He exclaims in frustration.

"Because, you have a grudge against her that needs mending just like mine." I respond.

He opens his mouth to start again, but before he could get a word out, I kiss him, to which I can immediately feel his muscles start to relax.

"Better?" I ask him once I break it off. He smirks in return.

"I have better idea's..." He starts before trailing off.

"Keep your pervert ideas to yourself, okay, Hikaru?" I ask. He just gives me a sly smile.

We enter the hospital and immediately go to the front desk.

"We're here to see Rachael Maddox." I tell the receptionist, who eyes me and Hikaru.

"Family?" She asks.

"She's the mother to my half brother, but he is my boyfriend." I respond while gesturing to Hikaru, who had a slightly annoyed look on his face.

She rolls her eyes and I can hear her mumble something under her breath. "She's in room 312, but be careful, her son is there too." She finally responds after a minute of awkward silence.

I was about to thank her, but Hikaru grabs me and immediately ushers me to the elevator.

"What was that about? I didn't even get the chance to thank her!"

"She was acting rude."

"So? That was incredibly rude too!"

"Oh well. It's over now, let's just get up to the room."

I give Hikaru my unamused look, and when the elevator bell rings, I step out and make my way down the hallway.

Once I see room 312, I stare at Hikaru, who didn't look like he gave a single care, and then knock on the door.

"Come in." I hear a voice sound from the other side.

Hikaru and I walk in, and the first thing I notice was a bundles of bouquets and plenty of cards to go along with them.

I let my jaw drop in aw, but the redirect my attention to the boy who's head was lying in his mother's lap. Standing above him was a nurse rubbing his back soothingly.

"Is he okay?" Hikaru asks while pointing to the boy. The nurse sent him a unsympathetic look.

"His mother is lying in a hospital, do you think he's ok?" She answers back, obviously angry at the lack of sympathy Hikaru was portraying.

"Is she awake?" I ask, but as soon as I finish, her eyes slowly open.

"Mela-" Rachael starts before giving up. I immediately rush over to her side and grab her hand.

"Yea, it's me." I reply. For the first time ever, I think I actually saw a genuine looking smile on her face.

"Why are you here?" She asks me. I shake my head and smile a bit.

"Because I'm here to send you off." I reply. I can almost hear the shock radiating off of Hikaru.

"You're here for what?!" He exclaims. The nurse tries to get him to calm down but he stubbornly refuses, and immediately rushes to me and turns me around.

"Mel! She's _dying?!_" He exclaims. I put a finger to my lips as a way to signal that Mason was sleeping on the bed. I can hear Hikaru take a deep breath before continuing.

"I thought you said that she just needed a blood transfusion?"

"I didn't think you would come if I told you the truth."

Hikaru let's out another deep breath before finally letting me give my attention back to the poor woman.

"How can you stand to see me? Even I hate myself..." She starts.

"Let's just say I did a lot of thinking over our situations, and I felt sorry for you." I respond.

"Don't pity me, I don't want it." She spits out.

"I'm not, I'm just telling it like it is. Ultimately, I thought the shit you went through was a lot harder than anything I've been though." I answer.

She shakes her head. "I had Mason to get through it with me, it wasn't hard, my life was fine." She replies.

"If it was fine, I don't think you would have that wound. Look, I know that my apology is nothing you want to hear, since I am not the person you want to hear it from, but I need you to listen to me, okay?" I ask her.

Her eyes open up a bit more, maybe in surprise but I couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my dad cheated on you, I'm sorry that you had to raise Mason by himself, and most of all, I'm sorry that in the end, you couldn't find it in your heart to love anyone again," I start.

"And you did? It hurt you too, in fact I heard that you made a down-with-love proclamation." She questions.

I give her a kind smile, but a shake of the head. "No, in the end, I did. I fell in love, and I know that I'm never going to regret it, I know that I'll be with him forever." I respond. I can feel Hikaru grab onto my hand, and squeeze it, almost as a way of sending me his emotions.

I can see a single tear come out of her eye, but she also slightly chuckles at herself. "To think, I'm acting like a child compared to a girl who's twenty years younger than me, it's kind of ridiculous, don't you think?" She asks quietly.

I once again shake my head. "No, you remind me of somebody else I know, someone who I doubt will ever grow up." I say with a laugh. I squeeze Hikaru's hand this time.

I hear a deep sigh coming from Rachael, who winces in pain for a second.

"Rachael, if I could request, can you answer one question?" I ask her. She simply nods in my direction.

"If you could relive what had happened, would you still make the same mistakes?" I ask. She gives me a kind smile, and strokes my arm.

"No Melanie, I definitely would not. I recognize now that what I did was only a huge mistake, one that I am saddened that I can't take back, but right now, it's my turn to thank you instead. Thank you for putting me to peace, and for coming here today to see me off, and I would like to thank you for one more thing, but I need to ask you first, will you please take Mason to your father? I want him to see him at least once, know who he is." She asks me in a cracked voice.

I smile sympathetically. "Of course. I am actually going back home on a flight tomorrow, is there anything you would like to say?" I reply. She shakes her head.

"I think when he sees Mason he will get the gist of my message to him." She responds. She quickly double over in pain, waking Mason up, and alerting the nurse.

Hikaru gets up and asks the nurse a question, which unfortunately I couldn't hear, but when he comes back, he sits down by Rachael, and also takes her hand. "I know that you don't actually know me, but it seems that we didn't make a very good first impression. My name is Hikaru Hitachiin, I'm madly in love with Melanie, and I would be more than happy to fulfill your last dying wish since you didn't kill her." Hikaru whispers.

I quickly feel his hands lock with mine, and I only make the bond tighter. Rachael redirects her attention from Hikaru back to me. "So this is who you were talking about? This is why he came to your rescue?" She asks me. I nod, she smiles weakly in return. "You two look like such a cute couple, you probably keep him grounded, no?" She replies. I laugh.

"Well, it's more like he keeps my life entertaining." I respond. I once again feel the bond of Hikaru and my hands' tightening.

"Well Hikaru, you have yourself a keeper, but to answer your question, the only things you can do for me now, is if you ever see Andrew, tell him how truly sorry I am for manipulating him, and also, to not cheat on Melanie, there is only so much heartbreak one can take, and please, if nothing else, look out for Mason, he's the last part of me, the only thing I will never regret." She whispers. I can hear her breath slow down, and her eyes start to close bit by bit.

I look to Hikaru's face, and see a tear slowly stream down his face, I turn his face to mine, lift it up, and kiss him to let him know I'm still there. He continues to cry, and I could feel a tear or two slip on me, but I don't care.

He lifts up Rachael's hand and in one slowly wasted breath, he responds to her request. "I promise, I will never do anything stupid to Melanie, if I see Andrew, I'll be sure to tell him everything, and I swear I will make sure Mason is well taken care of, I will take him back to Japan if I have to."

I can see her weak smile start to form again, but it quickly slips away as her hand falls from Hikaru's. She took one last breath, and uttered out what I know know, was her last sentence.

"Thank you, and Mason," She stops for a second," don't ever forget how much I love you."

You could hear nothing but complete silence as Rachael dies right before our eyes. Mason, who has been watching with tear stained eyes, finally speaks up.

"Mom?" He asks while poking her.

"Mommy?!" He asks again, a little bit more alerted, but the last time he poked her is when he breaks.

"_Mom!"_ He screams so loud that you could have probably heard it down the block. The nurse quickly tries to tear him off of his mother, but he puts up a fight as he continues to scream out for his beloved mother.

It takes well over an hour to calm him down enough to talk some sense into him, we even had to take him into another vacant room so his mother didn't set him off again, but surprisingly, it wasn't me who talked to him.

Hikaru picked up the devastated child, and holds him in a tight hug. I didn't hear him cry, I didn't hear him yell, I only heard silence once again as Hikaru calmed him down. After a moment, he places Mason on a chair, and kneels down in front of him.

"Mason, I need you to know, that even though your mom is... gone physically, she will always be with you, and not only that, but you see that girl over there?" He asks pointing to me. Snotty nosed Mason nods quickly. "She is your sister, and I am her boyfriend, and I promise you that we will do _everything _to make you happy, understand?" He states. Mason nods once again. "Okay, we're going to take you to see your mother one last time, but you have to promise that you won't scream." Hikaru pleads.

"Yes, Hikawu." He answers. Hikaru pats him on the head, and before I could complain, takes Mason and plants him on his shoulders.

The walk to Rachael's room seemed to last forever, even if it was only a few doors down, once we made it to the door though, I braced myself for what was going to come.

We walked in, and the first thing that Mason did, was run up to his mom, and hug her; no screams, no crys, just lying on her death bed and hugging the corpse. Hikaru and I stood, hand in hand, staring at the poor kid, and eventually, I started crying too, of course Hikaru automatically hugged me.

"You were great you know."

"I think I got the point across."

"What do we do with Mason?"

"I'm gonna fulfill my promise, I'm taking him with me to Georgia."

"He's going to live with your father?"

"Well he can't live with Liam and I."

Hikaru sighs into my hair, while I snuggle my head into his chest. After a while, you hear Mason's soft sniffles and tears, while I make my way to the bouquets of endless colors. When I opened the cards, I was surprised to see once from almost every host club member.

I read through them all, and slowly I started to piece together that instead of me hiding the truth of Rachael's death slowly nearing, that they actually knew about it long before I did. Each card was actually signed 'Dear Melanie' at the top, and they all had some message in them regarding my life and the pleasure it's been to know me, but the last sentence on Tamaki's definitely caught my eye. It read '_Melanie, it will be a pleasure walking you down the aisle. Signed, Daddy.' _

I showed the card to Hikaru, and with the same confused look on his face, disregarded it.

We stayed in that hospital room for a couple more hours, and once the hospital staff ushered us out, the only question left was what to do.

"We should probably get back to the house." Mason says, one hand intertwined with Hikaru's, the other with mine.

"Sweetie, we can't go back to the house, you're coming to the hotel with us." I reply.

"But, I live in the house..." He starts.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we can't go back. It's only going to be harder to let go if we go back anyway." Hikaru states. I cast him an angry glance for being so rude.

"Okay, Hikawu, I understand." Mason slowly lets out.

Those were basically the last words anybody said until we got to the hotel.

The second we walked through the door, we were pranced on by pretty much everybody.

"Hikaru, Melanie! Where the hell have you been?!" They exclaim in frustration.

Hikaru and I shush them for their use of language, making way for Mason to be in plain sight.

The little four year old was staring at the ground, tears crawling out of his eyes.

Tamaki is quick to pick him up and spin him around, much to his surprise.

"Oh my gosh! You're so cute! Almost as cute as little baby Haruhi!" He exclaims in glee.

"Tama-chan, I think you're hurting him!" Hunny points out, to which Hikaru immediately stops the spinning cyclone of blonde and takes the kid out of his hands.

"It's late, he needs to go to bed, he has a long day ahead of him tomorrow." Hikaru states coldly, then leaves without another word.

Everyone's eyes cast at me. "Hikaru has had a long day, let's just leave it at that." I tell them. They nod in understanding and one by one, say good night.

When I walk into the room that Hikaru and I share, I see Mason and him already sleeping. Kaoru had said that he would gladly sleep on the couch, leaving this room for us.

I change into my pjs, brush my teeth and quickly make my way to bed, but when I turn off the light, I quickly feel someone hug me. "It's about time you showed up." Hikaru whispered. Even though he couldn't see it, I smiled.

"I was just waiting. Are you ok?" I ask, turning so I face him.

"Yea..." He starts.

I kiss him, but before it got out of hand, I stop and return the hug.

"Mel, can you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Promise you'll _never _leave me."

I smile a bit at the thought of Hikaru asking me something like that.

"I promise. Now, Hikaru?"

"Yes?"

"Promise that you will _never _hurt me."

He was quick to respond.

"I rather die first."

I smirk, but quickly, our lips make contact again, and I fall into my beautiful new world, one where all you need to make you happy, is a superfluous kiss, and the ability to love a immature, spontaneous, and compassionate red-head.

A:N: Heylo world! Ima back! Yes, I recognize that this chapter came out miraculously quicker than most of my chapter's for the past three weeks. Well here's another shock. I finished the NEXT chapter, AND I am halfway through the chapter after that! (It's summer, when I'm not sleeping or dreading school, I'm writing and eating.) So yea, I hope you enjoyed this. As I almost always say, read and review! Each time I get a new review, it fills me with happiness!

See ya next chapter! (And thanks for all the awesome loyal readers :)


	18. Meeting with the Enemy

Why Me?

Chapter 18: Meeting With The Enemy

Melanie's Point of View

"Mason, is it okay if you sit in between us? Or do you want to sit at the edge?" I ask little Mason. He hasn't spoken much since we brought him back yesterday, so as I expected, he just gives a silent nod. I sigh and cast a glance towards Hikaru, who decided to come with us. I was going to stop him, but I thought that he would help bring the point across.

We end up sitting with Mason on the edge, and me in the middle. I cast a glance over to the depressed boy, his usually sparkly gray eyes were red, his brown hair was messy, over all, he looked like he reached hell.

"Mason, do you want to watch a movie?" I ask him. He shakes his head, and then lays it on the little tray table. I lean over to Hikaru and start to whisper in his ear,

"Hikaru, what do we do? I know his mother died, but I honestly am lost." I ask him. He shakes his head in sympathy.

"Like hell if I know. I think you should probably start doing something about him sleeping on the tray table, that looks incredibly uncomfortable." He replies.

I look at Mason, lean in close, and sure enough, you can hear soft snores accumulate from his mouth. I lift his head up a bit, being careful not to wake him up, and then place his head on a pillow that Hikaru has placed on my lap. He looked surprisingly peaceful while he was asleep, but every once in a while you could see a couple of tears start to stroll down his face. I don't know whether it was early maternal instinct kicking in, or the fact that I felt so sorry for him, but I started stroking his back in an attempt to soothe him.

"You know Melanie, he actually looks a bit like you." Hikaru states. I scoff.

"We have two completely different mothers, he looks almost exactly like his." I reply.

"Key word is _almost._ He has brown hair, and the same nose as you," Hikaru starts before he stares down at Mason, "and he has dimples like you too."

I, being skeptical of Hikaru's sudden statement, look down at the sleeping boy in my lap, and sure enough, he was smiling. I saw the dimple in the side of his cheek and smile; maybe we do look the same.

"I guess you're right, Hikaru."

"See? You should trust me more."

"Hold your breath. You're still sneaky and deceiving when you want to be."

"Aw, don't say that, Mel!"

"Are you trying to deny it?"

"No, I know I can be, but I don't wanna hear that from my girlfriend!"

I chuckle a bit to myself, leave it to Hikaru to say something like that, but then I feel Mason move a bit and hold my tongue, but luckily he didn't wake up.

"Well that was close." Hikaru replies. I smile.

"It's not like it's gonna stop you from still being loud." I state.

"No, it probably won't, but I know what will." He mischievously starts. I roll my eyes.

"You do realize we are in a public place, right?" I ask him.

"Of course, now, if you don't want me to be loud, you just need to shut me up." He answers.

"You really shouldn't do that you know," I start. Hikaru stares around confused for a second.

"Do what?" He asks.

"Try to threaten me for a kiss." I respond.

"I wouldn't call it threatening..." He replies.

"Just go for it." I tell him. His eyes get wider for a second, but then you can see his signature smirk start to form on his face, and soon after, he leans in, and right before our lips meet, I can feel Mason move again.

"What are you two doing?" He asks. I silently curse in my head, while Hikaru does it out loud.

"Damn it, moment ruined..." He starts trailing, while I hit him for his use of language around the little four year old.

"Nothing, I'm just telling Hikaru about how much I appreciate him." I randomly make up.

"Yea, you weren't telling me, you were _showing _me, and don't hide it from the kid. Melanie was about t-" Hikaru starts before I clasp my hand over his mouth.

"I was about to do nothing. As I said, just telling him how much I appreciate him." I quickly respond. The answer must have been good enough for Mason, because he falls into his depression like cycle again, and lies back on my lap.

I immediately give Hikaru a cold stare. I could feel his mouth form into a smile, much to my displeasure.

"Guess I'm never showing my appreciation to you ever again." I say flatly.

"Well aren't you a happy camper." He mumbles.

"You were about to explain that to my _brother_." I snap.

"You barely know the kid. I wouldn't call him your brother." He says nonchalantly.

"Yep, I'm definitely not expressing my appreciation anymore." I angrily grumble, way to piss me off Hikaru.

"Aw great. What did I do now?" Hikaru complains.

"This _kid _is my _brother_. We have the same dad, therefor he is my _brother._" I reply.

"I'm sorry!" He pleads.

"Hikaru, I don't feel like talking to you right now." I tell him, closing my eyes and leaning back.

"I said I'm sorry!" He tries again. I just ignore him, trying my best to stay mad at him, but even though I'm only half awake, I can feel my head land on Hikaru's shoulder.

In Georgia

"Mason, do you want to ring the doorbell?" I ask my brother. He shakes his head, he started crying again in the car, and after I had to calm down, he stopped talking again. It worries me, what if he never gets over it?

Hikaru rings the doorbell, and the three of us just stand there waiting for someone to answer the door. Not to my surprise, Stacy and Mia come to the door.

"Yuri! You're alive!" They scream in unison before hugging me, breaking the handhold Hikaru and I had.

"Yea, I know..." I start before looking at Hikaru and mouthing to him, "They knew?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"Oh God! We were so scared! We thought you were dead!" They cry out. I can feel tears start to dampen my shirt, and recognize my sisters are actually crying.

"Guys! It's ok! You can calm down now!" I assure them, but they stick to me like white on rice. Then I hear it, the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs. There is my mother, with tears in her eyes, running to me, finally engulfing me in a hug just like my sisters, who let go for a second, did.

"Mel!" Is all she managed to say before choking on her tears. I start to feel tears form in my eyes too, and I hug her back.

"Yea, it's me." I manage to get out.

She pulls back for a second and then hold my face in her hands. "Did they hurt you?" She asks me.

"No, I'm fine. The host club came and got me." I say with a smile, which was probably ruined by the tears coming out of my eyes.

Stacy and Mia move their attention to Hikaru, who was leaning on the side of the house, watching the scene. "You saved her?" They ask him. He nods. Automatically my tear stained sisters hugged him too.

"Thank you so much Hikaru!" They cry out. He was surprised by the sudden gesture, and I could see he honestly didn't know what to do in a situation like this. Immediately the twins pull him down and whisper something in his ear, which made Hikaru's face go red. This caught my attention.

"How old do you think we are?!" He exclaims.

"What did they ask you?" I ask Hikaru, still holding on to my crying mother. He doesn't respond, but Stacy and Mia sure do.

"We only asked him a couple questions," Mia starts.

"personal questions," Stacy continues.

"like how your relationship is going," Mia takes up again.

"and how your-" Stacy starts before Hikaru finally clamps the mouths of the twins' shut.

"Don't ask!" He exclaims. My mother and I raise an eyebrow in suspicion, what could the twins have asked to make even _Hikaru_ act like that?

"I won't. This situation kinda scares me..." I start. Stacy and Mia stand still for a second, staring off to something that was right next to me, and when I follow their gaze, I realize they were staring at a terrified four year old boy.

I go up to him and hug him. "I'm _so _sorry Mason! I forgot about you for a second. Everybody, this is my half brother Mason, we have brought him back from New York to live with dad. Speaking of dad, where is he anyway?" I ask. Automatically, the twins faces drop, as does my mom's.

"He hasn't come out of his office room since the courtroom case. I've sent maids to give him some food, but each time they just come back with a full plate. I honestly don't know what to do from this point. I think the only person that's gonna get him out is you, Melanie." My mom replies with a cold look on her face, one that I think is caused by the sudden appearance of her husband's illegitimate child.

"Well, I'm here to see him anyway, and you guys of course, but I need to settle this once and for all." I say as I walk inside to reveal the familiar interior of my old home. When Mason walks in, I make sure to tell him that if he asks the maids, they will gladly put on some tv for him and give him a juice box, then I go to the head maid and inform her of his current situation, that way no one dares bring up his mother.

"His office, huh?" I mumble under my breath, referring to his own personal man cave that just happens to have a laptop and a desk. Everyone follows me to the door, I turn around once I'm a foot away.

"I don't need you guys to do this, all of you can just turn around and go back to your daily life." I tell them.

"But Yuri!" Stacy starts.

"We just learned that you're alive!" Mia continues.

"And we were worried sick!" My mom finishes.

"I understand that, but I need to do this by myself, so please, do me a favor and leave." I plead. Hesitantly, the twins and my mother turn around and go away, while Hikaru stays there, having a worried look on his face.

"I don't like this, Mel."

"Well it doesn't matter if you like it or not, I'm gonna do it anyway."

"So what I want doesn't matter anymore?"

"No, it does, I'm just saying that you need to calm down."

"But what if he gets angry?"

"He won't. He shouldn't have a reason to. If anything, I should be angry at him."

"Please don't do it."

I roll my eyes and let a slight smile on my face, but then go up and quickly kiss Hikaru.

"You have nothing to worry about, I'll come out, don't worry, and if I have problems, I know you'll be there for me." I finally tell him before I open the door. I can see him tense up a bit at my sudden action, but before he can reply, I'm inside and the door is closed.

"I said I don't want any food." I hear my father's voice call from a different section of the room.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not a maid then." I speak up after a moment, moving myself to stand behind the couch he sits on. His face automatically snaps up and I can see my father's old, worn, brown eyes stare up at me.

"Melanie."

"Yea, that's me."

He automatically stands up and reaches his hands out to me, to which I take a step back. His face drops, and I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

"So, you're mad?" He asks.

"You expect me not to?" I reply questioningly. He sighs, but continues.

"Look, I'm sorry-" He starts.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it. I don't wanna hear it, and I'm not going to accept it." I cut him off.

"You don't understand-" He starts again.

"I understand plenty, you hurt me, but more importantly, you hurt the family, therefor, you-" I get out before he actually cuts me off.

"I said that you don't understand. You don't know the full story behind it." He responds.

"I don't think there is a story that I don't know about, and honestly, I don't want to hear the petty excuse that you're making up in your head right now." I reply coldly, masking the urge I have to scream my lungs out.

"Rachael was psychotic, I never should have gone with her in the first place-"

"So you would have cheated with someone else? There are too many holes and lies in your story." I spit back.

"Then let me rephrase that, Rachael was crazy, and I never should have cheated in the first place." He replies with a fake smile. He must have thought that would fix everything.

"Couldn't you have come up with that brilliant idea before you practically ruined everyone's lives?" I sarcastically ask.

"Don't talk to me like that, young lady!" He shouts at me.

"I can talk to you how I want!" I yell back.

"No you can't! I'm your-" He starts before I once again cut him off.

"You are _not _my father! My dad is a blonde idiot who's from Japan! _You, Thomas Smallwood,_ are the asshole who broke my mother's heart, spit on it, and then threw it out the window! _You are dead to me." _I finally reply.

I can feel the chill go through the air as the world stood still, but I stood my ground.

"You really are a smart girl." He mumbles.

"Thanks, I get it from my mom, you know, the parent that's smart enough to stay faithful." I spit in disgust. Almost immediately I feel a slap against my cheek, and feel the pain spreading through my face. He just stands there for a second, I can see his soulless eyes from the corner of my own.

"Well, that sure hurt, but you know what sucks for you? The fact that child abuse is illegal in all fifty states." I practically laugh, not even paying attention to my cheek.

"Nothing's going to happen to me." He murmurs.

"Well not now, because I'm not living with you, and have better things to do than waste my time with you, but the second you hit Mason, the cops are gonna be on you." I reply. I immediately look up to his face, and I was glad I did, it was priceless.

"You did not."

"Oh yes I did, Rachael thought that it would get her message out loud and clear."

"Bring him back."

"Can't."

"And why not, little Ms. Goldigger? Your boyfriend has more than enough money to send him back."

"Because Rachael's dead, you bastard."

His eyes get wide, he makes his hands meet his hair, and takes a step back.

"She's what?"

"Dead. She died of a broken heart and a bullet wound in case you don't know."

"You're lying."

"You wanna try me?"

"Yes, show me the boy! As far as I'm concerned, you're a fucking liar!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, you shouldn't use such harsh language when there's a kid in the house." I say as I move to the door. He looks to my back, and once I realize he isn't moving, I motion for him to come, then I open the door.

"Melanie! What was that loud sound?! Why is your face red?!" Hikaru, who is very alarmed, exclaims.

"Long story, we need to get Mason." I reply, amazed at how fast I calmed down.

"What? Why?"

I point to Thomas, who has managed to get to the door. I can see Hikaru tense up as he sees who I get my height from. To piss Thomas off even more, I held Hikaru's hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek before continuing to the living room.

Sitting on the couch was Mason, mesmerized by the wonders of something familiar, a tv.

"Mason, this is your father!" I chirp. Immediately his head spins around and he looks at the tall man standing behind Hikaru and I. He slides off of the couch, and walks up to him.

"Are you really my daddy?" He asks.

"Yes." Thomas responds. The thing that Mason did next practically broke my heart.

He wrapped his arms around Thomas' legs, and buried his head in them. "It's about time daddy, now we can finally have that dinner that I've been waiting to have as a family. And now that Melanie, Hikawu, and those nice twins are here, it'll be even better. I even want that other lady, the one with the pretty blue eyes, to eat with us too." He whispers into Thomas' jeans.

I can see Thomas' face drop in shame, or at least I hope that was the case. He bent down and rubbed the little boy's head, and with a sympathetic look on his face, told him that they would definitely do that.

"Hikaru, we may have to stay for a while." I whisper to him.

"I can tell." He whispers back.

Later That Night

"Melanie, tell me what happened to your face." My mother, Misa, commands.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine." I reply, a bit annoyed at the display that my mother was making. Apparently there was a bruise on my cheek.

"Mel, please tell us what happened! There is no way a cabinet door could have done that!" The twins plead.

"Please Mel, if he hurt you, you should tell us." Hikaru pleads with them.

I sigh to myself, I'm leaving the country anyway, what would this do? "He slapped me after I said he was stupid." I mumble. I see everyone's jaws drop in horror.

"Oh he didn't." Misa trails.

"There's a bruise on my cheek, isn't there?" I reply. Her face of horror changes to one that I've never seen my kind mother wear, and it told me that she was _pissed._ She marched off without another word, and the next thing you hear is the clanking of jewelry and one last sentence.

"The second you touch my daughter, you are _dead to me." _

Then she walks back inside, and I see her with a shocked look on her face. "Wow, I actually yelled at him..." She starts. I slightly smile, my mom has moved on to a better day.

"Yea, you did mom." I reply. For a second she turned around and looked like she was gonna go back, but then Hikaru's hand stopped her.

"You threw the wedding ring at him, don't take it back, Ms. Suzuki." He tells her.

She stops, but after a minute, turns around with a smile on her face. "You're right Hikaru. I know I'm gonna like having you in the family." She starts.

"Mom, you do know that we're not getting married, right?" I ask her.

"Not yet, but it'll happen someday." She responds before getting out a piece of paper and pen, then handing them to me.

"Mel, do me a favor and write a note for me, ok?" She asks.

"It'll be a pleasure." I reply.

By the time the note is done, it's a page long and explains how we will come to collect our stuff later, but my favorite part was the end, where it was signed '_The Suzuki's._'

Suddenly I hear little Masons feet come pattering in, he must be looking for a maid.

"Mason? What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Nothing, where's daddy?" He questions. I stare at my mom, who signals that I shouldn't tell him.

"He's using the bathroom, why? Do you need anything?" I answer. He shakes his cute little head, causing his hair to move with him.

"No, I just wanted to give him a hug." He responds just before a yawn crawls up on him. I can hear someone 'aw' a bit from behind me.

"Is someone tired?" I ask. He slowly nods his head and starts rubbing his eyes, so I pick him up and start to carry him up the stairs to my room, where I lay him down on the pillow and cover him in my blanket. I looked at his face one last time before giving him a kiss on the forehead and saying goodbye, I probably won't get to see him for a long time, it's sad that I can't make the go away any more special than just that, but the more I think about it, the more I think that he probably won't care that I'm gone.

I close the door on his bedroom without managing to wake up, just to get scared by Hikaru.

"So, you're practicing your 'motherly instincts' already?"

"No, I'm just showing my little brother how much I already love him."

"He's only known you for a day though."

"So?"

"I don't think he's going to remember."

I stare back at the door, and sure enough, I start to think the same thing, what if he does forget me?

"I'll have to live with it. It's not like I sacrificed something for him, it's just that he's my brother, I want to see him safe and sound."

Hikaru sighs a bit. I just smile at him.

"I don't understand you..." He finally responds. This causes me to laugh a bit.

"I'm not meant to be understood." I tease.

"Of course not..." He mumbles before trying to leave. I catch him by his sleeve, causing him to turn around in surprise.

"You know Hikaru, you aren't acting like yourself, are you ok?" I question him.

"Yea, I'm fine, I've just been thinking a lot, that's all." He answers.

"Oh really? About what?" I ask.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." He replies, much to my annoyance, but almost as if he can sense it, he gave me a kiss on my forehead. "Just don't ask, ok? It's going to ruin it when you find out." He tells me.

"And you said that you don't understand _me..."_ I start. He smirks, and then grabs hold of my hand and takes me downstairs, where the rest of my family was waiting for me.

I was finally going home, I could live my life freely again, I didn't feel like I had any restrictions, I didn't feel like my heart was under lock and key, I felt like I could do whatever I wanted to, and what I wanted to do was spend the rest of my life with Hikaru.

A:N: Heylo! This is the same person who has written the past 18 chapters of the story! I am happy to announce that this is the end to this story!

*Has a tomato thrown at her, narrowly escaping the horror*

WAIT! YOU DIDN'T LET ME FINISH!

There will be ONE more chapter after this one, if you know what it is gonna be about, well then, kudos, but for those of you that don't, GET EXCITED! (Cuz I'm excited, and I don't wanna feel stupid being excited all by myself.)

I would love to thank EVERYBODY who has come this far with me in my very first fanfic, the support has been great and you guys don't even know how much it means. I looked forward to EVERY review, and I still do, I'm probably going back after the last chapter to write down the total number of reviews. (I'm sorry if you thought the ending was sucky, it's just that I honestly didn't know how to wrap it up.)

Around the time that I finished chapter 7, I made a rough estimate of how many more chapters I would write, and I randomly multiplied that by about 3 reviews for each chapter. I have already passed 54 reviews and you know what? It means the world. I can't thank you enough, and I hope that you are looking forward to the last official chapter of Why Me?

~The happiest person on Earth,

K. (Yep, your minds blown, my actual name starts with a K.)


	19. Author's Note

Heylo everyone!

This is Melanie~Says here!

I am just putting this author's note down before the final chapter because I want the story to just feel complete, but I felt that an A:N: would ruin that. (And sorry if you felt that this chapter was late, it's just that, God damn it. I finished Clannad After Story yesterday, and I've been watching it for so long, and I am an emotional WRECK on the other side of this screen. In fact, I'm crying while writing this, it just may also be caused by the end of my first REAL fanfic.)

So anyway, I want to give a huge thanks to EVERYBODY who went through this story with me. Everybody who shed a tear, laughed a bit, or simply smiled at their screen, it means the WORLD that I know people out there are reading and enjoying my story.

As for special thanks, I have to thank:

Pretend It Was Just A Dream- Sarah, you have been here since the very first chapter, and if it wasn't for your reviews and helpful feedback those first couple weeks, I would have probably never gotten around to even the 3rd chapter. It's great that we finally became such great friends, and I still find it funny how it all started when I asked you what the difference was between a view and a visitor.

Tracey4t- It's been great talking to you too, and while we didn't meet at the very beginning like I did with Sarah, we still met and that's all that matters, you're a great friend, and I couldn't be anymore greatful that you've put up with the number of drafts I sent you concerning this story. (Oh and Tracey is coming out with a new story that's gonna have Mel in it! It's gonna have to do with Tamaki's multi-cultural family, so make sure to check it out!)

The Who Lockian's Journal- Zoe, well, what hasn't been said yet? Thank you for also reading my countless drafts and introducing me to such awesome things like Supernatural, and Doctor Who, and Sherlock! All the times that we've huggled Cas will be remembered, (Sorry that pretty much no one understands that.) and pulled our favorite characters into our twisted minds! I love ya buddy!

And that is really the end of the author's note. I don't have anything else to say that I haven't said anywhere else, but this is the end for now! Also, if you add me to your 'follow authors' thingy, then you will be able to get the update on the sequel, Trust Me. (I won't post any other fanfiction, except for a Clannad One-shot in between that time.) I love all you guys, if you reviewed or not, and even though not everyone might see this as a huge deal that I finished my story, it sure is to me, and I love every single one of you for sticking through with it, even thought the beginning was fairly sloppy.

From The Most Blessed Girl In The World,

K. Otherwise known as Melanie~Says.


	20. Elegance and Engagements

Why Me?

Chapter 19: Elegance and Engagements

Melanie's Point of View

"I can't believe my little girl is graduating!" Mom says while giving me one last hug.

"I know mom! You've already said it thirty billion times today." I reply while rolling my eyes.

"I can't help it! I'm just so excited! Especially since you finally agreed to dress up a bit!" She exclaims, pointing to the dress I had on. It was light blue and reached to my knees. It was one shouldered, but still allowed free motion on the covered up side. As for jewelry, I wore my bracelet that Hikaru gave me, and a simple necklace with a 'M' hanging off of it, I didn't allow much else since I didn't want to be walking around looking like somebody completely different.

"You look great Mel." Liam assures me as I started to fix a messed up curl. I smiled at him. Of all people, I was the happiest to see Liam come to my graduation from Ouran.

"The only thing that could have made this better is if the twins were here to see this," I start, but quickly stop when I feel two arms around my shoulder. Standing there are none other than Hikaru and Kaoru, with the host club in tow.

"We are here!" The twins chorus. I roll my eyes, but let a smile form on my face.

"You know who I mean." I reply.

"Yea, of course we do." Haruhi states while coming up and hugging me. Ever since coming out with her secret last year, Tamaki, who is now openly her boyfriend, has convinced her to wear girlier clothing and embrace her feminine side, which definitely seemed to have been the case. She was wearing a green dress, that was about the same length as mine, but was strapless. Every inch of it seemed to sparkle, and her hair, which has grown out a bit, had three barrettes going through it.

I notice Hikaru and Kaoru are dressed up in non matching dress shirts and blazers, but I don't say anything. Maybe they did it on purpose?

"Well, I can't believe it, but we're finally graduating!" I exclaim in glee. Everyone has a smile on their face, but I can see the group of girls behind them, crying as the last of the precious host club members went on to college. I remember last year when Tamaki and Kyoya graduated, they were literally holding on to their ankles as to not let them cross the stage and graduate. It took a team of Kyoya's private military to tackle them down, and even then, one or two managed to escape their grips. Since then, they have been warned about this years graduation and that Hikaru and Kaoru must live to see the end of it.

"Mel-chan! Haru-chan! You two have managed to leave quite the impression on the school! Haruhi's valedictorian, Melanie's salutatorian, and on top of that, you two single handedly turned around the view of commoner life!" Hunny chirps up, he's sitting on Mori's shoulders, something that hasn't changed since they graduated two years ago.

"I know! It's exciting, isn't it Haruhi?" I ask her, but she seemed to have disappeared, as has Tamaki. A smirk crawled on my face.

"What are you thinking about, Mel?" Hikaru asks me, putting his arm around my shoulder. I give him a smile in return.

"Oh nothing." I reply.

He shakes his head as if he was just seeing things.

"I heard that you're going to Ouran University instead of going back to America, is that true, Melanie?" Kyoya questions me. I nod my head, causing most everybody's jaws to drop.

"What?!" They all exclaim. My family and Kyoya were laughing at the display of affection that I was getting. I had told everybody that I was going to Princeton University to study psychology, which I was going to do, but I changed my mind after I realized how lost Hikaru was going to be without me.

"Well yea, I'm going to Ouran instead." I reply with a slight laugh at the end.

"But you told us that you were going back!?" Hikaru exclaims, he has taken his arm off my shoulder and joined the shocked crowd.

"Well, I changed my mind." I respond.

"What could have made you change your mind?" Kaoru questions.

"You guys." I answer after a moment.

"Umm, Mel-chan, can you say that again?" Hunny asks while hitting his ear, as if something would come out.

"I didn't want to leave you guys alone, so I switched." I say again.

This time I get a few more confused looks, but all that was interrupted as Haruhi and Tamaki came prancing back.

"Hey guys! What did we miss?" Tamaki asks while laughing, he had a tight hold of Haruhi's hand, and she didn't seem like she was going to let go either.

"Nothing big, only the fact that Mel's not going back to America." Kyoya states while writing in his infamous black notebook, which he still hasn't parted ways with.

"What?! My precious other daughter isn't moving away?!" Tamaki squeals in excitement.

"Well that is what Kyoya just said..." I start before being engulfed in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh I'm so happy!" Tamaki giddily exclaims. Hikaru didn't take kindly to that.

"Hands off." Liam and him said at the same time, Tamaki immediately removed himself from me.

"Reminds me of the first day we met, no?" I say while flattening out the ruffle of my dress.

"Yea, Tamaki hugged you and Liam scared the crap out of him, how can we forget?" Kaoru reminiscences.

"Speaking of memories, we gotta get going Mel!" Hikaru exclaims while grabbing hold of my hand.

"Wait, what?" I question. I didn't have a single clue as to what was going on, but from the looks of it, everyone else did.

"We got a plane to catch!" He explains while giving a quick hug to everyone.

"What? We can't do that! I don't have anything packed! And besides, where would we be going anyway?" I ask him, obviously confused.

Liam hands me a bag, which I can only guess is filled with my stuff, and then turns me so that I'm facing everyone.

"We're gonna miss you Mel!" They all exclaim in unison. I, being the hopelessly confused person I am, was about to ask what the hell is going on, but before I could say anything, Tamaki cuts me off.

"Don't ask questions, just take this as a graduation present, one that you get to celebrate with the one you love." He explains. Hikaru checks his watch, I look at everyone, who has started to wave at me, and the next thing I know, I am being dragged through the crowd. I barely got to scream out my goodbye.

Much Later That Day

"That flight seemed so long, Hikaru. I'm ready to go to sleep!" I announce, but my growling stomach quickly interrupts me.

"I think you may want some food first." Hikaru chuckles. I agree, the airplane food hadn't been all that great, even for first class.

We start to walk away from the house that Hikaru has rented, and make our way down the streets of Venice.

I can see all the shops that I vaguely remember from my childhood, but my reminiscing is shortened when I spot a restaurant. My stomach grumbled again.

"How about that one?" I ask, pointing my hand, which was intertwined with Hikaru's, towards the cafe.

We make our way there, and after we settle down and order, I start the interrogation.

"So Hikaru, you decided to drag me out here on my graduation day for what exactly?" I question him. He takes my palm and starts to draw on it using his finger.

"Don't worry about it." He reassures.

"But I am! I want to know why we're here." I tell him, moving a bit when his finger tickles my hand.

"Believe me, you will find out soon enough." He states again. I just stare at him questioningly, but allow myself to not dig any deeper into the mystery.

After the delicious food was served, we go deeper into the towns square, where there were plenty of things to buy, and performers to look at, but of all things, I stop at the edge of the sea. The beauty of it immersed me, and I was more than happy to stand there, hand in hand with Hikaru.

"It's beautiful." I say breathlessly. The sun seemed to have want to set, and all the gondola's were making their way back into port, but the most amazing thing seemed to be how the sky was reflecting off the water, seeming to give it a reddish hue.

"I know it is," Hikaru comments, looking at it beside me.

"Is this what you wanted to bring me here for? To try to replace old memories with new ones?" I ask, not moving my gaze from it's spot where I could see a pool of fish swim by.

"Yes, and no." He responds. I finally break contact and stare at Hikaru.

"No?" I ask. He looks back at me, his eyes were bright and his smile was radiating, in fact, it was contagious, for I could feel one slipping on my face too.

The next thing I know, Hikaru was kneeled before me, he was reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. As a subconscious reaction, my hands slipped to my face, and random bystanders were looking at us, but something told me they got the gist of what was happening.

"Last time we came to Venice, you said that it reminded you too much of how great your life was back then and how horrible it is now. I think I have made it very clear that I want to change that, and start a new life with you, one that starts the second that I get up from my one knee. I want to wake up next to you everyday, see your lovely face, and kiss you just because I can. I want to be the one to turn your life upside down, make it an adventure that you can never forget, but I don't want to do it by myself, I don't think I will be able to survive if I have to do it by myself. The number of reasons I ask this are endless, and I know that they may not be enough for you, but I want you to at least know how much you mean to me. That's why I'm asking this important question, the one to show the world that we are going through everything together, no matter how hard, obstructed, impossible the mission may be, for this one that I am completing right now will always be the hardest.

_Melanie Suzuki, will you marry me?_

I could feel the tears start to flow down my face as I just stared at Hikaru. My mind kept flashing back to all the times he's been there for me, and all the times he's gone out of his way to do something to make me happy, all of it only made the river run harder down my face as it just randomly decided to come back at that exact moment, but that didn't stop me from reacting.

"_Yes._"

Hikaru's face lights up again, and once he gets up, I jump into his embrace, giving him a long passionate kiss to top off the moment, well, what I thought would have topped it off, the random bystanders started clapping and cheering, much to my bewilderment. After a moment, I finally back up, and slowly, Hikaru slips the ring onto my left ring finger.

"Well congratulations, Mrs. _Hitachiin._" Hikaru calmly announces with a smile.

"Why thank you." I reply with an even bigger grin. I couldn't believe it, but I think it was safe to say that this was the best graduation present ever.

Two Years Later

"Are you ready, Mel?" I hear Kaoru ask me. I turn around and smile at him.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I reply. I started bouncing a bit in anticipation.

"Are you okay, Mel?" Kaoru questions while staring at me. I stopped bouncing and looked at him.

"Yea, I'm fine. Never been better actually." I respond, not even thinking about how hyper I seemed just a few seconds ago.

"Then c'mon, Tamaki's waiting for you." He tells me while I stare at him in confusion.

"Tamaki's waiting for me?" I ask.

"Yeah, he's gonna walk you down the aisle."

"But he's not my dad."

"But he sure called you his daughter in high school."

Suddenly, a distant memory clicked.

'_Melanie, it will be a pleasure walking you down the aisle. Signed, Daddy.' _

"Well we don't want to keep him waiting, do we?" I ask. Kaoru smiles back at me.

"No, no we don't." He answers while leading me out the door and down the hall to where Tamaki stands. When he sees me, his face lights up.

"You look beautiful, mademoiselle." He says with a smile. I take his arm and grin back at him.

"Thank you, _daddy._" I respond. I can see his face light up in happiness, but before he could say anything, I hear the march, and we go down the aisle. Before Tamaki let's me go though, he gives me a hug and looks me in the eyes for a second, almost as if saying 'Good luck'. I smile back at him, but then redirect my attention to Hikaru, who was standing there, just waiting for me, with a radiant smirk on his face.

I walked up to him, and he took my hand, while grasped his tight. I looked him right in the eyes, and they were as bright as ever, I never stopped looking at them actually, until it was time for the vows, and of course, I got to go first.

"I've loved you for a long time, even though I didn't know it or accept it for a while, but I did. If it wasn't for you, I probably would be single for the rest of my life, but I'm not. I'm standing here, by your side, ready to take on the worlds challenges with you, because I know that when we're together, we can do anything. And most importantly, as we exchanged that night, I promise I will _never _leave you." I say, making sure to take a breath or two somewhere in there. Hikaru smiles at me again, I can see him look over my head a bit to Haruhi, who was one of my bridesmaids. She must have gave him a reassuring look, because he automatically starts.

"I'm pretty sure when I proposed to you, that I said everything that was worth saying, but if saying it in front of all these people will prove how much I love you, then I will do it. I want to start a new life with you, one where we can grow old together, maybe have a kid or two, and explore the world, but I want to do it while wearing bands around our fingers. Walking around as husband and wife seems so much better than just a dating couple. And as _I_ said that night, I will _never _hurt you." He finishes. I can hear our not-so-small audience aw a bit in adoration, but I don't give pay attention to them, my eyes are stuck on Hikaru.

Before I knew it, the moment came.

"Do you, Melanie Suzuki, promise to take Hikaru Hitachiin as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"And do you, Hikaru Hitachiin, promise to take Melanie Suzuki as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Then you may now kiss the bride."

Hikaru smirks a bit, but then cups my face in his hands, and slowly let's his soft lips touch mine. When we separated, I could hear the twins' fake gagging, and turned around, just to laugh when they put their hands around each others necks. They may be fourteen, but something tells me that they will never grow up.

"So Mel, how does it feel like to have a different surname?" Hikaru asks me while walking down the steps, stopping every few moments to accept congratulations.

"It feels great." I respond, also accepting congratulations from my side.

"So Hikaru, who would have known that you would be the first one to tie the knot!" Kaoru says while coming up from behind his brother and giving him a slap on the back.

"Me." He responds, giving his twin a annoyed look, which started a bit of a teasing session in between the two.

"Mel-chan!" I hear someone call from behind me. I turn around to see Hunny rushing towards me, engulfing me in a hug when he finally reaches me. "Mel-chan! You look so pretty!" He exclaims, hugging my waist tighter and tighter each passing second.

"Thanks Hunny, but can you do me a favor and stop suffocating me?" I ask, my sides starting to hurt a bit, Hunny releases me, only to have Tamaki start hugging me.

"Oh my little daughter finally got married!" He squeals.

"Tamaki, you do realize I'm only twenty right?" I question, raising my eyebrows at that 'finally' part.

"Of course, it's just that you and Hikaru have been together since high school, I've been waiting for this moment!" He exclaims. I roll my eyes but smile, leave it to Tamaki to be extravagant like that.

"Is that what you meant when you said '_It will be a pleasure to walk you down the aisle._'? Did you plan that all along?" I ask, he puts on a silly grin, and nods.

"Of course! You are my daughter after all, it's only natural that I walk you down the aisle on your wedding day!"

"Hold your breath Tamaki. The only reason you got to do it was because of bad relations with Mel's father." Kyoya states flatly, sending Tamaki to his depression corner.

"Wait, I seem to remember a certain girl screaming, 'You're not my father, my dad is a blonde idiot from Japan.'." Hikaru reminiscences. I give him one last look before I am glomped by Tamaki.

"You did?! I love you too Mel! You're my favorite daughter after all!" Tamaki exclaims, tears starting to come out of his eyes. I can see Hikaru start to regret saying anything as Tamaki practically squeezes the life out of me.

"Tamaki. Can't. Breathe." I barely manage to get out. He didn't let me go though, he didn't until Hikaru smacked him on the back, forcing him to let me go, and jump on Kyoya, who obviously wasn't happy about Tamaki wrinkling his suit.

"So Melanie," Haruhi starts. "When are you planning on having those kids?" She asks. My face goes beet red, and Hikaru just pretends he didn't hear it, well, he was until Kaoru slung his arm around him.

"Yea, Hikaru, when am I getting my _niece_ or _nephew_?" He questions, heavy teasing making an appearance in his voice.

"Shut up Kaoru." Is Hikaru's only response.

I quickly feel two arms around my own shoulder as well. "We want nieces and nephews too!" Stacy and Mia squeal in delight.

"Well wait." I reply, still embarrassed by the question.

"But aren't you and Hikaru going on a honeymoon? Perfect time to get started on them babies!" They exclaim mischievously. Once again, my face goes firetruck red, and Hikaru's does too.

"Don't put such dirty thoughts in their heads!" Tamaki complains.

"Don't be fooled, Tamaki, Melanie likes it." Misa says sweetly. I can hear almost everybody snicker.

"Mom! No I don't!" I whine back at her, I could feel my face burning up still, and I knew most of the perverted guys in the host club were ready to take advantage of that.

"Melanie is a secret perv, huh?" Kaoru starts.

"Mel-chan! Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Hunny asks.

"Because I'm-" I get cut off quickly.

"Mel, you need to keep your hormones to a minimum, it's only helping us." Kyoya adds. I stare daggers at him.

Suddenly I feel the twins lifting their arms off my shoulders, and when I spin around to see what happened, I was face to face with none other than Hikaru.

"So, I just married someone who is just as dirty minded as me, huh?" He asks. I only keep my mouth shut, for I know that whatever I say will only be used against me.

"This is gonna be one _fun _relationship." He purrs as he lifts my head up, his lips about to meet mine. I quickly hop back, not to his surprise.

"Stop making it sound so dirty!" I wail, I know they aren't planning on stopping anytime soon, but I should at least resist now that my 'being quiet' theory is out the window.

"Don't you want kids? There's only one way to have them naturally." Tamaki teases. I put my hands over my ears, trying to block them out, but as usual, they were peeled off my head.

"Now now, I think Mel-chan has had enough of this," Hunny starts.

"Somebody understands." I release with a sigh of relief.

"But seriously, get started on those kids, chop chop." He finishes.

"That's it Hikaru, we're leaving." I say as I grab his hand and started walking towards the door.

"Without saying goodbye? Not even to your own mother?" Misa asks. I release a sigh of frustration, but then turn around. "Goodbye everybody! See you in two weeks!" I announce, giving a wave to signal that we're leaving.

"Bye! Don't break the bed, you two!" Kaoru calls out. Hikaru just laughs, but I drag him out the door, and into the car that was taking us to the airport.

"Did I ever mention that I hate our friends?" I ask once the car gets moving.

"Yes, but nobody believes it." He reassures. I give a slight groan at how I don't feel like people take me seriously.

"Mel, are you mad about just now?" He asks me.

"It's a bit too late to ask that now, isn't it?" I respond, not exactly annoyed, but I almost snap a bit. Hikaru just laughs.

"Well yea, it is, but still." He replies. I roll my eyes.

"A little bit." I answer. A huge smile spreads across his face.

"That's great to hear. Now I know the best way to tease you." He announces.

"You sneaky bastard." I snap.

"But you married me, didn't you?" He laughs. I stay silent for a second, but a grin starts to sneak up on me.

"Yes, yes I did." I reply, biting my lip a bit. Hikaru smirks a bit, obviously amused by the fact that I so easily responded to him.

"So, where are we going?" I ask, laying my head on his shoulder.

"Paris." He responds simply. I immediately start day dreaming about how fun it's going to be walking hand in hand with Hikaru through the city.

"Mel, you drifted off again." Hikaru snaps his fingers in my face.

"Sorry, just thinking."

"You were imagining walking down the streets like a loving couple, weren't you?"

"Yea, so what?"

He kisses me, and I kiss him back, giving in to that longing feeling that I've had all day. When we separate though, his eyes are bright and shining, and you could sense that he was excited.

"Well, it's going to be a lot of fun." He teases. I roll my eyes.

"If I go along with it, will you eventually stop?" I ask him.

"Not a chance."

"I didn't think so." I smirk, but then once again, kiss Hikaru.

The honeymoon went great, and it made me look back on some things as well, but overall, my life couldn't have been better. I was well into my third year of college, married, and even though I didn't end up pregnant after the trip, I could sense that I would be sometime in the near future. In the past, are my sorrows and spites, my hate and the weak person who I used to inhabit, but now, I feel free to do what I need, to love who I want, and most importantly, not have _anything _hold me back on that.

_Everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect._


End file.
